The Special
by Mrs. Owl 09
Summary: An unusual discover leads to a shocking and horrifying discovery. Some where in season one and season two, I tend to mix up all the people I need. I combined all the Lucas and Aellai stories in one place. Over all warnings: Mild cursing, strong violence, discussions about sex but no descriptions.
1. Chapter 1

**My computer is finally being nice and so this is the 3rd post of the same story. The formating is fixed. I don't own any of these people or creatures. Takes place in a mix of season one and two. I just use the people I think will work best for the story. ****Just did some minor editing on 1/28, nothing major.**

"Lucas!" Darwin squealed managing to sound indignant through the vocorder's computer voice.

Young Lucas Wolenczak tossed his blonde hair out of his eyes and leaned over the side of the moon pool and smiled wryly. "Hey buddy, I'm sorry I haven't been around. Th..." His apology was interrupted by a squirt of water from the annoyed dolphin. He sighed and wiped his face. "I guess I deserved that. Captain Bridger has had me very busy. But I have a few hours for you today."

Darwin seemed mollified and flipped backwards into the water. "Play!" He commanded.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Lucas struggled out of this flannel shirt and jeans to expose the wetsuit he had put on in his quarters. He jumped in with the large sponge and was soon wrestling Darwin for it in their own form of football.

For almost an hour they played hard until Lucas had to stop and just floated on the surface with Darwin beside him talking in his fashion. "Lucas sad?"

"Nah, just thinking, and tired. I've been working very hard on a program for the Captain and Admiral." He sighed as he rubbed Darwin's melon. "In two weeks, I'll have been on this ship for a year. Can you believe that?" Darwin only bumped against him not fully understanding. Lucas suddenly jerked his head up out of the water. "What was that?" He could have sworn he saw something move across the room. He paddled to the edge of the pool and peered into the decompression chamber. "Hello?" His own voice echoed slightly back to him.

Reluctantly he pulled himself out of the pool and cautiously walked to the chamber. He couldn't see or hear anything, sighing he turned back to Darwin planning to say goodnight. He must have been seeing things he was so tired. But the dolphin was now lifting his head above the water looking at the chamber as well. Feeling uneasy Lucas walked back to the pool and grabbed his PAL. "Captain? If you have a moment, can you come to the moon pool?"

Captain Bridger set his book down on this desk in his quarters and quickly picked up his PAL. "Are you ok Lucas?" He asked worriedly. Lucas seemed to have an edge to his voice Bridger didn't like and it was odd for the teen to ask for help for anything.

"Um, yeah, I'm ok but there is something weird going on here. I'm in the pool with Darwin... if I have to I'll go to the bridge through the tubes, I have a rebreather." Lucas realized he was alone in the room and the door was pretty far away for him to run for it if need be. Swimming for it may be the safest way. He grabbed the rebreather and hopped back into the water.

"I'm on my way, just let me grab Ortiz for some back up. Why don't you call Krieg from there?" Bridger was already out the door when Lucas started to protest.

"I... I don't know if that's necessary Captain. I'm probably just being stupid."

Bridger snorted. "Lucas, I doubt anyone could truly call you stupid. I trust my crew's gut instincts I know it's saved us before."

"Ok, thank you Captain." Lucas tapped a button and slowly called Ben Krieg. As fond of each other as they were, Lucas knew he would still get teased if it was nothing. "Krieg." He said quietly into the PAL, hoping he wouldn't be heard and could use it as an excuse.

Five seconds later it beeped in his hand and Krieg came on "Yo! What's up dude?" Despite the unease he felt Lucas laughed at his dated slang.

"Can you come to the moon pool? The Captain is on his way, there's... something odd happening here." Ben bit back the smart ass comment that nearly popped out. There was an tone in his young friend's voice he didn't like.

"On my way Lucas, don't do anything." Ben got up from his bunk tossing the supply list he was marking off on the floor. He quickly jogged to the moon pool ready to protect the youngest crew-member on the SeaQuest.

* * *

Lucas slowly treaded water while Darwin floated in front of him. Lucas had a momentary thought he was being protected, but from what? Captain Bridger ran into the room followed by Ortiz and then Krieg. All three of their hands hovered above their respective side arms. Slowly, silently they turned and looked at every object in the room.

"Lucas?" Bridger said quietly, "Get out and get behind us."

"What if the ... whatever it is... _is_ behind us." Krieg asked as Lucas boosted himself up on the edge of the pool.

"Right, Ben good thinking." Bridger nodded, "Lucas, stay there."

Lucas huffed but obeyed. He was starting to feel foolish now that the three officers were there. "Person in room!" Darwin suddenly shouted from underwater. The computer voice startled Lucas so badly he lost his footing and went underwater. From there he could see what Darwin could see. Under the bed in the decompression chamber there was a blanket. A blanket forming a very human like shape.

Lucas bobbed up to the surface sputtering. "Captain! In the decompression chamber. There's someone under the bed!" Bridger and the two men jogged to the door and he typed in a code to lock the door.

Lucas started to scramble out but Bridger barked "NO! Stay there. You're safer. We don't know what happening yet." Next he pulled out his PAL to call his second in command "Ford, we have something going on here. Can you send a few more people for back up?"

"Yes sir." Came the quick response. "Do you need me doing anything else?"

"Just make sure people are on the alert." He advised. He dropped into a crouch followed by Ortiz and Krieg. "There's definitely something in there. It just looks like a lump though. That's strange... I don't think that blanket is long enough to cover a whole person."

"Could it be a child?" Asked Lucas attempting to crawl silently from the pool.

"Possibly, but I don't know how a child could get on with out someone see them." Bridger glanced back to Lucas. "Stay!" He commanded again. Grumbling, Lucas stopped but was much closer to getting out than before. The Captain tapped the intercom to the inside of the chamber as four more crew members ran into the room.

"What is it?" Asked Chief Crocker a little breathlessly.

"We aren't sure" answered Bridger not looking at him. He had crouched down again. "Hello? We can tell someone is in there. Come out, there isn't anywhere for you to go but we won't hurt you."

"I can see someone breathing" Said Krieg leaning close to the glass.

Suddenly the blanket flew against the glass hiding what was inside. Krieg and Bridger jumped back and up in alarm. All the crew members leaned to the side looking around it. No one could see anyone inside. "What the hell?" Asked Krieg confused.

Doctor Wendy Smith was the next to come in. "What's going on? I'm getting some very strange feelings from in here." She looked from Lucas in the pool to the various crew members gathered around the chamber.

"There's someone... or something in the decompression chamber... but we can't see them." Lucas attempted to explain. "Can you feel anything from inside?"

Dr. Smith walked to the glass and leaned against it. "Yes. Someone is scared... and angry. But mostly terrified." She copied the others and looked into the room before going to the intercom. "We won't hurt you, you can show yourself." She said softly.

The blanket dropped and for a moment none of them could see a thing, suddenly there was a shimmer and movement. From the top down a teen girl was revealed. She looked terrified but defiant. She was filthy and very thin, wearing a torn sleeveless shirt and dirty shorts. Her black hair was chopped short and stuck out at weird angles. Lucas sucked in his breath horrified when he saw the amount of bruises on her pale face and arms. Lucas jumped out of the pool ignoring Bridger's annoyed look. Up close he was further shocked to see thin scars on her face and neck.

Bridger cleared his throat. "I am Captain Bridger, who are you and how did you get on this ship?" The girl crossed her arms and glared at him. "We've locked the door; you can't get out until I get some answers. We don't want to let you starve but I'm pretty sure you're pretty hungry in there."

The girl smirked and walked to the bed; she pulled out a SeaQuest issue duffel and dumped several water bottles and food packs. In a cold voice she answered, "You'll have to come in after me I guess."

* * *

"Captain..." Lucas started hesitantly. "Could I try to talk to her? She's my age, maybe she'll cooperate."

Bridger sighed, it had been two days since the girl was discovered and he wasn't sure what to do anymore. He was more afraid of her hurting herself if they stormed the room. While there only guards in the room, she would sleep or ignore them but the moment an officer came in she got defensive and started threatening them. They didn't even know her name. Lucas had met him in the hallway on his way to try again. He nodded sharply. "I agree. But don't let her out, just try to get information and see if she'll let us in." He paused, "I'm not going in, I don't think she's a fan of me." He smiled at Lucas and patted his back. "But then, neither were you right away."

Lucas took a deep breath and stepped in the room; he nodded to the guards and walked up to the chamber. "Hey... Hi, I'm Lucas" He started slowly. The girl glanced up from her meal pack wrapper which she was trying to shape into a weapon.

She set it down and cocked her head at him. "You're the one who got me caught. Good job jerk." Her dark eyes focused the thin foil as she picked it up and kept working at it.

"Uh... yeah... sorry about that... I guess. To be fair you did break in here and stow away. So where did you come from?"

She sighed and tossed the foil, annoyed. "I look, I'm not an idiot, I know what you're trying to do. You're my age so you've been sent in to warm me up or something. I've seen it before." Something twitched in her face. "You just want to get info on me and use it against me."

Lucas stepped back from her anger and was about retort back but he remembered what Dr. Smith said about feeling terror. "Look," He said slowly. "I know you're freaked out. I would be too. It's obvious where you came from was bad. We won't send you back if they hurt you." The girl twitched and looked hopeful for a split second but the angry mask flipped back on.

"Aellai"

"What?" She had spoken so suddenly and quietly Lucas wasn't sure what he had heard.

She sighed and slumped against the wall on the bed. "My name, it's Aellai. I'm a special. That's that I'm saying."

"A special? A special what?" Lucas gaped at her. "Wait... a special, as in the fighters? You're way too young."

Aellai snorted "What you know about specials is what my government shows you. People who get paid to fight with their gifts, people who choose to fight. That's not me, that's not most of the fighters. We're kidnapped from our parents or in my fun case they were killed and we are thrown into training. If we don't fight they beat us until we do or we die." Lucas stared at her in horror and couldn't speak.

"Specials are somewhat rare, our ... masters" she spat the word "Make a lot of money on us. I was the top fighter for four years."

"But, you're younger than me" whispered Lucas. "How could have you fought that long?"

Aellai shook her head and looked down. "I think I'm 16, I do know I was taken when I was 10. They killed my folks and took me..." She stopped talking for a while and took a deep breath.

Lucas glanced towards the door and saw Bridger watching him looking sick. He wasn't sure how much the captain had heard but it was enough. He stepped closer to the glass. "You said gifts, I know some of the fighters are mutations or experimentals, what can you do? Just the invisibility thing?"

Aellai laughed, "No, they didn't know that until I was gone. I knew the only way I'd get away for good was to disappear. I... can do different things. It's hard to explain. I guess you could call it magic." She finished wrinkling her nose.

* * *

"If she's telling the truth about being a special, she must have snuck on board at Panama. They're the only ones with a year round fighting area. Everywhere else is traveling groups. They wouldn't be able to hide kids." Commander Ford explained to Captain Bridger while reading a print out. "Lucas hasn't been able to find any information on her or her parents and he's been working around the clock."

Bridger nodded, "its possible Aellai isn't her real name, if she's been through this much for this long they could have renamed her and she doesn't remember her real name. I'll mention it to Lucas. Then again, from what we know of Panama, her and her parents may disappeared."

Before Ford could respond, the P.A.L. on the desk chirped and O'Neill's voice came through. "Uh, Captain we have a communication from Panama."

"Thank you Tim I'll take it in here." Bridger rubbed his eyes, maybe they were about to find out the truth. He sat at his desk and composed himself before clicking the vid-link on. The screen flicked to a middle aged male face. "Yes sir?" he asked politely.

"Captain Bridger, I am President Simon Lutiz. I was hoping you could help me." Bridger nodded but didn't say anything. He was mistrustful from the moment the man had used the term "president" all of the UEO knew Lutiz had forced a coop and became the dictator ten years ago. Many people had gone missing under his rule. "A dangerous woman escaped prison a few days before you left the area and we were wondering if you had seen her on your boat."

Bridger mentally bristled at the term "boat" but kept a level face. "That was nearly two weeks ago, we would have certainly seen something since then. But we'll do a scan for her. Can we have some information on her? What did she do to end up in prison?"

Lutiz cleared this throat in annoyance, he was not use to people asking questions and not doing as he said immediately. "That's classified; I'll send you her picture. She's very unstable and needs to be back in prison. Contact me if you find anything." Lutiz punched a button and disappeared.

"Well," Bridger started dryly "I have to say, the girl who claims she can do magic seems more trustworthy than him."

* * *

Bridger and Ford walked into the moon pool and directly up to Aellai in the decompression chamber. "We just got of the vid-link with President Lutiz..."

Before he could get farther Aellai shrieked in terror. "What do I have to do to be let out?" She demanded.

The officers looked at her in shock. Ford found his voice first. "Lay on the floor facing away from us with your ankles crossed and your hands behind your back." She obeyed immediately and the guards carefully opened the door. They had her cuffed and standing in moments. Ford still looked at her carefully. "What brought the change of heart?" He asked.

"I... I need to explain something." She said looking at the floor. "I promise I won't try anything. Just... just please don't send me back." The men were shocked to see tears streaming down her face.

Captain Bridger sent the guards away and called for Lucas. He thought the teen would be good for Aellai when she explained about her past. When Lucas showed up he was shocked to see her out of her self imposed jail cell and talking to the men in charge. Bridger nodded to a chair next to her and he sat looking from person to person.

Aellai took a deep breath and begin, "I've told Lucas some of this, but I'll explain farther. When I was very young, probably four or five, I started being able to do things that weren't normal. I could... I suppose you could call it flying but really it was floating, jumping for very long distances. I think I could speak to animals, but I haven't used it in so long I'm sure if I'm remembering correctly. My mother's mother could do magic so my family wasn't completely freaked out but they warned me to be careful. I practiced at home and my parents helped me as much as they were able to.

"As careful as I tried to be, I was still a kid and people saw. Rumors spread and when I ten, men broke into our home and killed my parents in front of me. Then they took me. I was in some kind of jail cell for a few days. I had food and water but no one would speak to me. I know now they were waiting to see if I could get out myself. To see how strong I was. Finally two men came to see me; they didn't talk to me but discussed me. One checked me over like... like some kind of horse. My teeth, my eyes, my arms and legs. He placed his hand on my head and I felt him invade my brain. I tried to stop him and get him out but he saw all I could do. He told the other man and they bought me. I saw the exchange of money before I was thrown in the back of a van.

"My new master brought me to a house with about a dozen other kids and pretended to be my friend. But I saw the others covered in bruises and injuries and I knew not to trust him. I guess he got sick of playing around and just attacked me. I threw up a force field before I knew what I was doing. He just laughed and tried to penetrate it. I could move it around and kept him out but it was too late, he knew I could do real magic. They started training me to fight every day. When I wouldn't they would beat me." Aellai took a shaky breath and stood without looking at anyone. She turned and lifted up the back of her shirt as well as she could with the cuffs. Lucas let out a line of curse words but Bridger and Ford were too horrified to say anything. Her back was a criss cross of thick scars, even with the limited view they knew they were looking at the remains of several whippings.

She sat again but still wouldn't look at them. "I started fighting; I had to to stay alive. It was the only way." She looked disgusted with herself. "I think I was eleven when I had my first fight. They kept my abilities from everyone so they could win more pitting me against an older stronger opponent. I... I almost killed him. He barely touched me, I had my defensive magic and was trained in hand to hand so well it was simple... almost mindless. I won a lot my first year but soon they learned to get me before I could put a shield, it takes a few seconds. I started working on attack magic. I could push things, even slam them against walls. I killed a boy when I was twelve." She swallowed and seemed unable to go on.

Captain Bridger walked to the chamber and grabbed one of the water bottles, after he set it on the console in front of her; he dropped to one knee and uncuffed her. Ford looked shocked and started to protest before the Captain cut him off. "If she wanted to hurt us she would have done it days ago." He glanced down at the thin girl and she nodded slightly.

After taking a large drink of water, Aellai started again "After him... the boy... I stopped fighting. I told them they could beat me to death if they wanted to. I was done. A few weeks later when I was almost dead a new person moved into the cell next to mine. I was surprised since I had never seen someone so old as a fighter. He was at least thirty." She looked up at the Captain with a small smile, "That seems old to a kid and I hadn't seen anyone but the guards and masters over twenty." The Captain nodded returning the small smile but his was much sadder.

"He... Randy... started talking to me. He was a friend. He told me not to fight for them. To fight for myself. To stay alive. If I stayed alive I would beat them at their own game. I started eating again, started training. Randy stayed in the cell next to mine and taught me things. He was a teacher once he said. He taught me basic things I would learn at any school... if I was... normal. They came to get me a few months later to fight again. I stopped and reached out to him. We held hands as I passed and I thanked him. I won my fight, and couldn't wait to get back to him. He was gone. The guards told me he died in a fight but I knew that was fake. Even though I figured out he was hired to make me fight again I couldn't hate him. He helped me survive. I never lost a fight after that. But I started planning to escape.

"My first escape was foolhardy; I attacked the guards as they let me out to train and just ran. I had no plan. They caught me in five minutes." She pointed at the top scars on her face with both hands. "This was the punishment. I was cut on both sides every time I attempted escape." She did her best to ignore the gasps of horror around her but she was getting choked up. So much depended on them believing her. She looked at Lucas counting the scars and was saddened to see him weeping.

"My last attempt I was given four. My master said the extra ones were for my next try because he would have me killed on site. I still fought for them I didn't try to escape for a year. I started seeing more and more young children brought in and I was told to train them. Three and four year olds... they were being whipped and beaten every day. I... I couldn't take it anymore. I knew I would go crazy in there. I decided to attempt one more time, I didn't care if I died.

"I worked on my magic at night and a few of my neighbors helped me. I wanted to be invisible. They simply told me when it worked. I told them I would send help as soon as I could. When I found someone I could trust.

"The next day I had a fight and I lost on purpose. I let him keep beating me. We fight until someone passes out or a major bone breaks. I kept myself awake and let him continue. I was in the repair unit when I woke up. I could barely see but I could move my arms and legs. At night when there was only one guard, I simply disappeared. I made my way to the door and waited until someone opened it. I repeated that until I was out of the arena. I couldn't believe it was so easy. I didn't sleep for days because I thought it was a trick. I stole food and hid by the docks so I could get on a boat.

"When I saw the SeaQuest, I knew I could hide for days on her. I knew I would be far away and might even get help." Aellai took another drink from the bottle. "I hid in the chamber and stole food from your kitchens when I could and... that's it."

She stood facing them, "I'm not telling you this because I want you to feel bad for me or comfort me." They looked at her silently, "I'm telling you all this because you need to understand if I go back. I WILL be killed, probably in front of the kids so they know they can't get away. My master made enough money on me, he's done with me. You can save my life."

* * *

"What do you think?" Captain Bridger asked Dr. Wendy Smith as they watched Aellai lay in the medbay. Lucas was talking to her and showing her his new laptop he put together. The thin girl looked healthier to Bridger but possibly just because the look of anger was gone.

Wendy chewed her lip for a moment before answering. "Nathan, I don't think she's telling us the whole truth," she put a hand up to stop him before he could comment. "I think it may actually be worse. She has had numerous broken and re-broken bones and that... scaring" her voice broke "That scaring goes all the way down her legs. She has been through hell."

"Will she recover?"

Wendy hesitated, "Well, physically she will always have scars, she may health problems later in life due to what happened but she'll be ok. Mentally... I don't even know how she survived that long. She let me reach into her mind even though she was so scared she couldn't breath. She isn't broken but she was close. Probably closer than I've ever seen. I'm not saying she'll purposely hurt someone but I can see how she may lash out if pushed."

The Captain nodded, "I guess we won't push her then. Make sure she eats enough and gets healthy, when this thing goes to trial I want her to see it."

"So they caught the people? These... masters?" The word had such a distasteful sound Wendy had to force it out.

"Yes, most. And it looks like it gave a lot of people courage. People have started speaking out against Lutiz; I guess he was a common face at the fights, even the ones with kids. We arrested a few masters and they started talking a lot of people will go away for a long time. She won't even have to testify they're turning each other so fast."

"What about her master? Will she have to live in fear forever?

Bridger paused, "Not if she accepts what I'm about to offer."

* * *

Aellai was listening to Lucas talk about his computer, she only caught some of what he was telling her but it was so nice to listen to him she didn't mind. She couldn't resist watching his clear blue eyes or his blonde hair. She wished she could stroke it... _What was she thinking? She was waiting to hear about her fate and she's crushing on some boy? Who was she? Was this safety really making her weak?_

She became aware of Lucas looking at her but not talking. "I'm sorry, I guess my mind wandered off there." She smiled timidly, "It was interesting, I just haven't used a computer since... Well." She stopped. After her long speech, no had mentioned her past to her and she didn't want to bring it up. She was staring at the floor when Lucas lifted her face.

"Hey," he said brushing away the tears. "Stop, you will never go back there. Never! They'll have to fight the whole ship for you!" She let him take her into his arms and just cradled there.

Sometime later she heard a throat being cleared. She and Lucas jumped apart guiltily. Bridger was looking down at them smiling. "Aellai, I have some news." Her heart jumped in her chest. "Your master... ex-master I should say, has been caught. Almost all of them have. He is going to trial but with so many witness and all the kids they found there is no chance of him going free."

Aellai looked at him in disbelief. Could this be true? "What will happen with me now?"

The Captain took a breath "Well, if you want to find a place to live I'm sure the UEO could find you a home with some sort of foster famil..."

"No! Please... I want to stay here. I'll fight for you, I'll clean, cook whatever you need. I want to stay here." She exclaimed jumping to her feet.

Bridger looked surprised but very pleased. "I was going to say, or you could stay here. You would be part of the science program and work with them."

Tears were rolling down her cheeks, "Yes! Yes! YES!" She turned to Lucas with the first real smile he has seen. He was shocked by her beauty, a few good meals and safety made such a change in her. Without thinking he embraced her and kissed her deeply, she went still and then returned the kiss.

Bridger looked at the two of them in amazement before walking away. That was another problem for another day...


	2. Chapter 2

Aellai stretched her small frame up to peak out of Lucas Wolenczak's tiny window. The coast looked clear as she figured it would be this early in the morning. She glanced back at Lucas; the 16 year old was on his back snoring on his bunk. With a loving smile Aellai crossed to him and fixed the blanket he had kicked off. She brushed his shaggy blonde hair away and kissed him on the forehead.

Standing up and going completely still, she closed her eyes and started to shimmer until she was invisible. If you looked close enough you could see something there but most people dismissed it as a trick of their eyes or the light. Glancing one last time at Lucas she stepped out of the room, and nearly walked into Captain Bridger.

He was standing leaning against the far wall watching the moving door with an annoyed but amused look. Aellai froze and tried to figure out her next move. He knew she was there, she could run but that would just cause more problems. Sighing she reappeared. "Hi Captain" she said sheepishly.

Bridger tried to look sternly at the small dark eyed teenaged girl but it was nearly impossible. In the two short months she had been on the ship she had changed immensely. Her black hair was still short and she was still very thin but she had a glow to her cheeks and her laugh was often heard echoing down the hall. He knew she would always be small do to her harsh upbringing but at least now she was healthy. She had also already become an important part of the crew. Even the scars that marred her pixie like face seemed to be less noticeable. "You better come with me Aellai" He said pushing off the wall.

She nodded and fell in step behind him. She knew she was probably in trouble and now so was Lucas, _why hadn't she checked again before leaving the room?_ She wasn't watching where they were going and was surprised to find themselves in the medbay. "Captain?" She asked confused. "Is someone sick?"

Dr. Wendy Smith came around the corner and answered. "No, but we need to talk to you. I wanted to talk to both you and Lucas but I think it may better one on one." Aellai's heart skipped a beat, what was wrong? "Please take a seat, we just need to talk" Dr. Wendy smiled at the girl.

Aellai obeyed and for the first time noticed the Captain looked very uncomfortable. "Um... I'll just go" he started.

Dr. Wendy actually laughed, "No, Nathan we agreed. I'll do the talking but it has to be both of us." Bridger dropped into a chair looking more uncomfortable and embarrassed. Aellai had never seen him act like this. What was going on?

"Aellai," Dr. Wendy started, "We don't want to make you feel uncomfortable and you aren't in trouble but we have some questions." Aellai nodded. "We know you spend most, if not all your nights in Lucas' quarters. We need to know if you are being... well... safe."

Aellai looked from the doctor to Bridger in confusion. "Safe? Well, I didn't think anyone ever sees me. I didn't want to get Lucas in trouble." Her utter confusion was deepened when the Captain turned red and rubbed a hand over his face.

"No, honey. That's not what we mean. Are you... using protection... for... sex?" Dr. Wendy finally got out.

Now it was Aellai's turn to be embarrassed and she felt her face get hot. "No! It's not like that. Not at all!" She started to pick on a fingernail unwilling to look at either of them. "We don't... we haven't done ... anything like that. We just sleep or talk. I... still have nightmares." She ended in a whisper. Like Lucas, she had a very difficult time admitting any weakness to the rest of the crew. "I sleep better when he's there."

A soft cry escaped Dr. Wendy's mouth and Bridger's face darkened. He should have known it was something like this. His mind leaped to what normal teens would be doing but he forgot again these were not normal teens by any stretch of the imagination.

Dr. Wendy reached for Aellai's hand and pulled her up. Putting an arm over her thin shoulders she walked her to the door. "I'm sorry we didn't think. Please come to me later today. We can talk about the nightmares and what to do about them." Aellai's mouth pressed into a thin line. "And we can talk about some options for protection if you need them."

Aellai flushed and nearly ran to her quarters when she was free. _That was mortifying!_ She knew everyone on the ship worried about the youngest members of the crew but geez!_ Talk about invasion of privacy!_

She tried to push the thought from her mind as she began to stretch. She needed so little sleep that she had three hours to kill until her shift started and probably another two and a half until Lucas woke up. She loved to train in the early morning hours when the ship was almost silent. All that could be heard was a gentle chug of the engines and various vents going on and off. She started going through different punches and kicks moving faster and faster. At one time she had needed someone to follow but after years it was all muscle memory. She could have gone to the ship's workout room and used mats and pads but preferred the hard floor when she did her rolls and sweeps. If someone attacked you the chances of it being on a nice soft surface were pretty low.

After an hour she began her cool down, several steps of Tai Chi relaxed her and made her center her mind. Her mind might wander while doing the other training but for some reason never during the slower exercises. Finally she was done and wandered off to the showers.

The ion showers always made her skin crawl a bit but she had used up her water for the month and knew it would get her clean. It was just an odd experience to her. After changing into her duty clothes she started for the mess hall. She could get away with wearing civi's like Lucas but since she came aboard with only one set of half destroyed clothes she never worried about it much. She also liked to look professional if she could.

Aellai slowly ate a small breakfast and thought about the projects for the day. She was supposed to be helping Lucas work on Darwin's vo-corder. She paused her chewing as she realized they might be stopped from working together since she was caught. She jumped up to find Lucas as he walked in looking bleary eyed. He looked at her oddly and grabbed a meal bar before responding to her waving.

"Eat and walk, I need to tell you something." She whispered. They hurried along the corridor to the moon pool and Aellai nervously looked around at all the crew. Lucas was really starting to worry about her behavior but kept it to himself until they reached their destination.

"Ok, what?" He asked as he pulled her into the room. Another quick look to make sure they were alone and Aellai looked into his blue eyes.

"We may be in trouble." She whispered. "And it's my fault."

"I'll call the Captain he'll know what to do." Lucas started to reach for his PAL.

"No! He's... the one I'm worried about." Lucas looked at her shocked; the Captain had never done anything to make him afraid. Bridger was like a father to him and Lucas thought he was becoming the same to her as well.

Aellai took a deep breath. "He caught me coming out of your room this morning. He wasn't happy. He made me talk to the Doc about... protection." She couldn't look at him anymore. "I tried to explain it wasn't like that but he looked so mad. I have to go back to the Doc later for an appt to talk about "options"."

She was so beat red Lucas could see her skin through her short dark hair. Trying not to laugh he lifted her face by her chin. "Trust me, he's not mad, he's worried." She narrowed her eyes at the mirth in his voice. "We're science officers remember? We have more freedom than the military officers. We can have a relationship if we want to."

Her breath caught in her throat. "Really? They won't stop us from working together?" Lucas shook his head and held her close.

For the next few hours they worked on adding more vocabulary to the vo-corder. Lucas was amazed how much Aellai had learned about computers in the short while she had been on the ship. The hardware just seemed to speak to her the way software spoke to him. He wondered if they would have met in a computer symposium if she had had a normal childhood. She had helped Lt. Commander Hitchcock on some engineering problems already and reserved words of praise which she quickly dismissed. Lucas shook his head as he thought about how alike they really were.

They had finished and were trying to decide whether to eat or play with Darwin. With Darwin's help they were leaning towards eating later. Captain Bridger walked into the large room, "Lucas, Aellai, can you come with me?" Aellai shot a worried look at Lucas while missing the smile the captain was trying to hide. Lucas however, caught it.

"Right behind you sir." Lucas took Aellai's hand pulled her with. They came to a stop outside of Lucas' quarters and both teens looked around very confused.

"Now," began Captain Bridger "This is highly irregular, but after discussing the issue with Dr. Smith, and given the size of Mr. Wolenczak's quarters, I've decided to allow a move for you Aellai."

He pushed open the door and Aellai gave a shout of delight and surprise. "Really?" The captain, laughing, nodded. All of Aellai's possessions were in his room. The bunk was switched out for a larger one.

"I know a bottle of wine is customary for house warming but given your ages, I had to settle for these." He held out two bottles of soda. He looked down seriously at Aellai "Just remember you have an appt with Dr. Smith." She nodded and with a laugh hugged him around the middle. Bridger nearly dropped the soda bottles in surprise and hugged her back.

Lucas took to bottles and smiled at Bridger "Thank you Captain, it means a lot."

* * *

Aellai spent her lunch time arranging her few minor items in the room. She couldn't stop looking at them next to Lucas' stuff. It just seemed right to her. After giving Lucas a peck on the cheek she ran off to her appt. When Dr. Smith opened the door, she was shocked by Aellai hugging her in tears. "Thank you!" She whispered.

"Oh! Um, you're very welcome dear. We thought it was best." Dr. Smith was blinking back her own tears. "Take a seat; we can have a nice long talk." She stopped and narrowed her eyes at Aellai. "Did you eat today?" She asked severely.

Aellai guilty shook her head. "No, I mean not much, I'm sorry. I was so worried you were going to split up Lucas and I that I didn't finish my breakfast. And...I guess I was too happy setting my stuff up to eat lunch."

Dr. Smith walked over to a cabinet and put out some fruit and water bottles. She pointed at the table "Sit, eat." She dug a bit more and came up with some granola bars before joining her. "You need to make sure you're eating, you and Lucas. You both get so into what you're doing you forget about yourselves. We need you both healthy." Aellai nodded and took a bite of an apple. "So, let's talk about these nightmares." Aellai paused her chewing and swallowed noisily.

"It's mostly... you know the pits. I'm back in the cells again. They're making me train kids or fight them." Dr. Smith only chewed her lip and looked at Aellai. She didn't want to interrupt her opening up finally. "Sometimes... I dream that Captain Bridger gets mad at me for messing something up and he sends me back. I don't ever want to go back." She stopped speaking and just looked at the half eaten apple.

"You know that would never happen, right?" The girl hesitated but nodded. Dr. Smith reached out and took her hands. "The masters are all gone. No kids are fighting anymore. Please keep eating"

Aellai took another bite of the apple and grabbed a granola bar. "When I wake up, I try to remember that. Sometimes it works but, sometimes I get panic attacks. That's when I need Lucas."

"That's what we figured was going on, but that brings up the next subject." Aellai started blushing guessing what was coming. "You said earlier you hadn't done anything, is that true?"

Aellai blushed harder and stared hard at the apple core. "No. I mean yes, no we haven't, yes its true. We've kissed, but that's it. We haven't talked about it at all and frankly I don't think I'm ready. Lucas is really a gentleman though, I think he wants to but is waiting for me."

"Aellai..." Dr. Smith started slowly "I know this is a difficult question, but have you ever? Even if it wasn't your choice?"

"No. That was forbidden in the pits. I know a couple guards tried with some kids and they were executed." She snorted, "I guess that's going too far for the masters. I don't really know the reason. Maybe they were worried about relationships starting."

"Ok, that's good." Dr. Smith was relieved by the answer and that Aellai was talking freely. "I still want to start you on the shot. It's once a year only so if you decide to on the spur of the moment you'll be ready. And I want you to keep coming to me about once a week to talk about how you are doing."

"Ok"

A few days later, Lucas and Aellai were eating lunch together and discussing the upcoming shore leave. "I don't know if I want to go anywhere." Aellai admitted. "I have a lot of work to do and it'll be interesting to see them working on the ship."

"Don't you want to see New Cape Quest?"

"I donno, is it really that amazing?"

"Eh, there are a lot of places to see but I don't know if I'd call it "amazing"." Chuckled Lucas. "And if you stay I want to stay." He tilted his head at her. "Are you worried about going on land?"

Aellai shrugged but didn't look at him. "A little, I guess."

"Well, I'll talk to the Captain about it. I know some people are staying. Krieg for instance. We could probably have some fun with him."

"Krieg? Really? He doesn't have some beach bunny he's chasing after?"

Lucas snorted, "Nope, he has a bunch of shipments coming in and Bridger is making him stay."

Aellai nodded and smiled "Ok then, if you're ok... I don't want to make you stay if you want to do something."

After lunch Lucas knocked on the Captain's door and explained their idea. "Really?" Bridger asked surprised. "You don't want to tour the area?" Lucas hesitated, he didn't want to expose Aellai's fear but Bridger seemed to read his face. "Ok, but make sure you both eat and sleep well. Crocker and O'Neill are staying as well. It will be just be the five of you. Try not to get into any mischief!"

* * *

Many miles away and a few days later other plans were being laid for SeaQuest's shore leave. Jackson Reed was going over the last minute details with his team of twenty. "The ship is going to have only five or six people on board. Once we get in, it'll be ours."

One of the men looked at him, "Do we know who it'll be?"

Reed laughed cruelly "Just a couple kids and a few officers. We take out the officers and the kids will be crying in their rooms. Our employer wants the boat in a week, and then we get our pay day."

"What the heck are kids doing on the sub?" Reed's second in command asked.

"I don't know, probably some kind of work release program. Stupid kids don't know how not to get caught." He laughed but then stopped. "Or... They're the kids of someone on board. We could really get them to work with us then!"

* * *

Aellai and Lucas stood at the entryway of the docking bay saying goodbye to their crew members. Dr. Smith was very uneasy with them staying and kept trying to give him more instructions and warnings. "Wendy!" Lucas finally interrupted "We'll be fine! Chill!"

"Alright" Dr. Smith said reluctantly. "Call me if there are any problems." The teens assured her they would and hugged her goodbye.

After everyone had been loaded up and was on their way Krieg showed up and flashed a couple disks at Lucas and Aellai. "Movie night? I have junk food!" Laughing they followed him pulling O'Neill and Crocker with them.

After two terrible sci-fi movies and eating junk food until they were nearly sick everyone retired to their rooms. Lucas pulled his jeans off and flopped on the bed. "Tomorrow I want to get those mini-links wor... What's wrong?" Aellai was still standing worriedly rubbing her hands.

She sat next to him but wouldn't look at him. "I just wanted to talk to you about something." She took a deep breath and steeled herself. "You know I had the appt with Dr. Smith, right? Well, she gave me the shot." Lucas looked confused but said nothing. "You know... the shot... for women?"

"Oh... OH!...Oh..." Aellai would have laughed at the sudden change in his facial expressions if she hadn't been so nervous. They were both red faced and looking at each other. "Do you think you want to?" He asked quietly.

She sighed and finally sat next to him. "I don't know, sometimes I do. When we're just lying next to each other I think it would be nice, but then I start to panic. It may be... I guess too much right now. I just don't want you to think I'm not interested and get bored with me."

Lucas took her hand in his. "I don't think I could ever get bored of you. And if I do, just go invisible and scare me half to death." He smiled at her got an eye roll back. "Look I know it's corny but it's true. I don't want to push you at all." He laid down on the bed and pulled her with until she was wrapped in his arms. After he felt her relax and her breathing even out, he stayed awake a long time thinking. He knew she hadn't told him everything that happened when she was a fighter but he hoped it didn't involve what worried him most.

* * *

The next morning Aellai woke up earlier than she wanted to. Groaning softly she got up, she knew she wouldn't be falling back to sleep. She padded quietly across the room and picked up the mini-links. They were small silver button sized communicators she and Lucas had created together. Each person wore two, one in an ear and one on their collar serving as a microphone. By clicking twice on the microphone on the collar, they were turned on. But they were having problems with the power supply, small batteries were burning out too fast and the larger ones didn't fit or fried the circuits. She had had an idea of using the movement of the person wearing it to charge a small power source. She knew there were emergency flashlights and watches that worked the same way.

After an hour she was satisfied it was working. Glancing over to Lucas she saw he was still fast asleep. Smirking she got up and slipped one of the links into his ear and after tapping the microphone on, she attached it to his collar. Grabbing her pair she slipped out the door. Time to test out the new invention, and mess with him at the same time. She jogged to the moon pool while putting her set in and turned it on.

"Lucas...Lucas!" She started softly. All she got was a groan; well at least the mini-links were working.

Darwin had noticed she was in the room and heard her talking to Lucas. "Aellai! Where Lucas?" Yelled the dolphin's computer.

"Damnit" cursed Aellai; she had forgotten the dolphin would stay so near the ship. She was answered by a strangled confused yelp.

"Wha... the hell? Aellai? Where are you?"

"Lucas! I'm ok; I'm in the moon pool. I'm sorry I didn't think this would freak you out so much. I got the mini-links working." She said sheepishly, she heard a rustling as his hand found the microphone and earpiece. Then some more rustling with grumbling, and then running feet.

Turning suddenly she saw him burst into the moon pool room. He was more disheveled than usual. His blond hair was standing straight up and his normally clear blue eyes were red and puffy. He looked like a cartoon. She started to laugh but stopped when he glared at her. "Are these things waterproof?" He said stepping close to her.

"Um yeah, for Tony remember?" She gulped and squealed as he grabbed her and dumped her into the moon pool. He jumped in after her laughing. Soon they were wrestling trying to dunk each other and splashing. Who needed shore leave?

* * *

After their stomachs started to growl they decided to change and grab some breakfast. On their way to the mess hall Lucas glanced in Ben's room. The supply master was fast asleep half on the bed. They decided to have mercy on him and let him sleep. Munching on some moderately healthy cereal, they discussed what they wanted to get done that day. "I know the wiring going into the bridge should really be re-done." Aellai said after swallowing. "I'll take care of it; I can fit in there a lot better."

Lucas agreed, "I'll start on the console outside the clam doors. Krieg said it shocked him the other day but I think he may have punched it." They both laughed and jumped slightly when Tony Piccolo walked wearing dripping civilian clothes. "Tony! Where did you come from? I thought you were staying on land." He eyes narrowed, "Did you get into trouble?"

"Yeah," Snorted the short seaman, "And she had a husband. Luckily we were on his yacht and I jumped out a window. I've been swimming all night to get back to SeaQuest." He grabbed a couple granola bars and tore into them hungrily.

Lucas and Aellai's looks of concern turned into hysterical laughter. "Well, you can help with the repairs then." Lucas informed him.

Tony nodded, "I promise I will, but later. I need to get some sleep." The teens agreed not to tell anyone he was here and he would show up saying he got bored on land this evening. They knew no one would believe him but probably wouldn't question it too much. Everyone knew Tony Piccolo would sometimes operate at the limits of the law but he was a good person and an important part of the crew so they tried to look the other way.

Aellai crawled in the overhead ducts and started looking at the wires with a groan. She tapped her mini-link on. "Lucas, this is gonna take me forever. Any chance I can get a water bottle and one of the small mats from the gym so I don't tear up my knees?"

"Yeah, sure. Give me a sec." Came the response. A few minutes later his head popped up and handed her the supplies. "Need anything else?"

"I don't think so; I got the tools already and have plenty of wires to replace the ones that got pulled out. How did it get so bad?"

"I'm not sure we did get bumped around a lot during the last mission they probably pulled loose. I'm going to take the ladder to the other end of the hall and check there ok?"

"That's fine; just don't forget about me up here. I could probably jump down but don't want to listen to Dr. Smith if I twist an ankle" She laughed and kissed the top of his head as he retreated. She heard the ladder scrap the floor as he pulled it down the hall and started working on the wires.

"Ug!" She heard him grumble down the hall. "It's bad here too. Get to as much as you can up there but I don't think you can get all the way through without coming down... Did you hear that?" Lucas jumped off the ladder as he heard shouts.

"Turn your link on if you're going somewhere!" She called down to him. She heard the crackle as his turned on.

"Tony probably scared someone else" His voice came into her ear.

Lucas walked down the hall hearing more yelling and some kind of shuffle. He came to the docking bay and was horrified to see twenty men running towards him and Ben Krieg lying on the floor covered in blood.

"Ben!" Lucas screamed trying to make sense of what he was seeing. Two of the men saw him and started towards him. Lucas tried to take off running but they easily caught up with him and threw him to the floor cuffing his hands behind his back. Speaking quickly and quietly in his microphone, Lucas called to Aellai "Disappear."

Frozen in fear Aellai listen to the shouting and tried to obey but she couldn't concentrate on the task. She heard the marching footsteps below her and in horror watched the strangers walk by holding Lucas and carrying Krieg. One of the men paused looking at the ladder and then crawled up it to look in the ducts toward her. Aellai held perfectly still and faded from sight. The man looked twice at her hiding place but shook his head and dropped back to the floor.

They entered the bridge and quickly subdued O'Neil as well. Aellai crawled from the duct and quietly dropped to the ground after tossing her mat down to soften her landing. She snuck into the bridge and watched from behind one of the control consoles.

Reed walked up to O'Neill as he was being cuffed. "You're the communications guy?" O'Neill glared at him silently and Reed sunk a swift punch to his gut. Aellai let out a gasp as the thin man crumbled to the floor.

Lucas' head jerked suddenly as he heard her in his ear piece. "Get out!" He whispered. One of the goons shook his arm roughly to shut up.

"Now," Reed said bending over O'Neill, "Let's try that again. Are. You. The. Communications. Officer?" O'Neill nodded weakly. "Great!" He pulled the wheezing man up. "I need to make an announcement to the rest of your crewmates."

He sat O'Neill down hard on his seat and the officer glared back at him. "How? I can't hit any buttons with my hands behind my back." Reed thought for a moment and agreed. He uncuffed one hand and attached it to the console. Tim punched a button, "You're on" he said unable to hide the anger in his voice.

Reed leaned to the microphone, "Attending all remaining crew members, this is your new Captain Jackson Reed speaking. You are invited to show up on the bridge with no weapons. You have five minutes before I start shooting."

Within minutes Piccolo and Crocker came rushing onto the bridge, after seeing they were very outnumbered, they put up their hands in surrender. If any of the crew was shocked to see Tony on the ship, they hid it. Reed paused looking at the SeaQuest team. "Weren't there suppose to be two kids?" He asked his intelligence officer.

The older bald man pulled out a sheet of paper. "Yes sir, the boy and the girl."

Lucas stepped forward. "Aellai went ashore... we had a fight and she was mad at me."

Aellai bit back a cry; he had saved her from discovery. Now to save the rest of them.

Reed snorted, "Fine, we have enough. Jamison! Let's get our new ride home!" A tall man with a nasty scar down his face sat in the captain's chair and started the ship.

The hijackers secured the crew in Captain Bridger's quarters after making sure the ship would operate without them. Reed made sure to destroy Bridger's vid-link and locked the door. The men were also uncuffed and sat around rubbing their wrists. Krieg was laid on the floor not moving. O'Neill checked his pulse and everyone was relieved to hear he was just unconscious.

"How come they didn't need any codes to start the ship?" Piccolo asked confused.

Lucas slammed his fist down on the desk, "It's my fault! I asked Bridger to deactivate the security protocols so I could upload my programs without a problem. I'm sorry guys." He slumped in a chair.

"Hush up Lucas" Bed whispered. He was awake but looking at everyone blurry eyed from the floor. "We were all off our game. No one ever thought someone would try something at our home base."

Lucas kneeled next to him. "What happened?"

Ben shakily pushed himself into a sitting position. "I was waiting for a shipment. I got bunch of great food and entertainment for cheap. I should have known something was up!" He pressed on his forehead checking the lump rising from his hairline and grimaced. "All I remember is opening the doors and there were way too many people for the delivery."

Crocker was looking over the destroyed video screen. "Lucas, can you do anything about this?"

Lucas stood and poked at the wires. "No, it's too far gone."

"Where's Aellai?" Asked Ben looking around.

"I made her hide," He spoke in his chest. "You still ok?" He stood silently as the rest of the men stared at him. "Yeah, she's ok. She's staying just outside the bridge to see what they're doing. We made mini-links." He said pulling the piece from his ear responding to the looks he was getting. "We were testing them out when they boarded."

Aellai hovered around the entrance to the bridge trying to listen in. She heard a few snippets about how the ship was moving but no information on where they were going. Still invisible she made her way to the moon pool. "Darwin?" She called quietly. The dolphin popped up and started looking for her. He knew by now she could disappear and didn't worry about it. "I need you to be quiet Darwin. But you need to get out of the boat and find Bridger or anyone from the crew. There are bad men here and they took the ship." Darwin flicked his tail at her and took off. Well, hopefully he'll find someone, Aellai thought to herself.

Next she went to the quarters she shared with Lucas. His vid-screen should be able to call out. She attempted to call the UEO but found the call blocked. After a few minutes of fumbled typing she called up a screen. "Come on Wolfman, be around." She whispered.

Lucas' redheaded friend showed up on screen "Hello? Frankie? Are you there?"

"Oh! Sorry!" Aellai reappeared suddenly. She had forgotten no one could see her.

"Gah! Geez Aellai that's freaky! What's up?"

"I don't have much time. The ship is trouble. We only have a few people on board and they are locked in the Captain's quarters. There are men on board and they have control of the bridge. I haven't heard of a destination or a plan but they don't know I'm here." She took a deep breath "I've sent Darwin out for help but I need you to try too. Can you get ahold of Bridger?"

Wolfman sat back in shock. "Yes! Of course! Is everyone ok?"

Aellai nodded. "Yeah, Ben was knocked out but I think he's fine." She stopped suddenly as she heard footsteps in the hall and quickly simmered away again. She dove beside the bunk as two men raced in.

"The signal is coming from in here according to Mike." One of the men said over his shoulder to the other. "Hey! Who are you?" He shouted spotting Wolfman.

Wolfman thought fast. "I was calling my buddy Lucas; he gave me a direct connect link to leave a message. Who are you?" He could only hope they would buy his ridiculous lie.

"Uh, new security officers. We knew he wasn't in his room and heard voices. We'll tell him you called though." The hijacker turned off the computer and then unplugged it. "Think he bought it?" He asked his partner. He got a shrug in reply and they went back to the bridge.

Aellai finally exhaled, so they would know if she tried to call someone else. Wolfman was smart enough to get a message out so she felt help would be coming. She called Lucas on her mini-link "Are you there? Can you talk?"

"Yeah. What's happening?"

"I got ahold of Wolfman and told him to send a message for help. And I've sent Darwin out too. Between the two of them, someone should get through."

"Great job, now you need to hide. Don't let them get you." Lucas tried to command. He knew the chance of her listening was low but he had to try.

"I'll stay invisible but I'm going to keep fighting them. Sorry, I'll be as safe as possible." She heard his annoyed sigh and couldn't even get mad at his commanding her. "You know you would do the same thing Lucas." She whispered.

"I know, just... please... be careful... I ... I love you Aellai." His link buzzed off as she blinked in surprise.

"What a time to tell me!" She grumbled. She started looking around the room and tried to formulate a plan. She gathered up the rest of the mini-links first. If she was able to get to the crew they needed to be able to talk. Wrapping them in a sock she slipped in under her shirt and secured it with her belt. She moved around and was pleased to find it stay put.

Next she went into Dr. Smith's office and looked over the medications. Aellai tried to recognize the names of sedatives but in the end was too uncertain to take something. She had hoped she could knock some of the hijackers out but she'd have to try something else.

She headed to the security office and was surprised to find it trashed. All the weapons were pulled from the cabinets. Cursing to herself she looked for anything she could use. A couple dozen thick plastic zip-cuffs went into the sock and a survival knife that had fallen behind a desk went into her boot. She was as ready as she was ever going to be.

* * *

Captain Nathan Bridger looked up from his book in annoyance when his phone rang. Sighing he stood and crossed his living room to answer. "Bridger here"

"Yes, hi Captain Bridger, this is Wolfman... you know Lucas' friend?"

A jolt of fear ran through Bridger's body when he heard the young voice. "What's wrong? Why are you calling here?"

"I have some bad news Captain..." Wolfman started to explain.

Bridger got off the phone feeling sick and immediately called the Admiral. He hadn't been down to check on Darwin all day and now he could see the dolphin trying to get his attention from the shore. The Admiral clicked on. "Bill, we have a problem." As Admiral Noyce's face grew darker and darker, Bridger explained the little he knew.

* * *

Aellai checked her packages and made sure she was still invisible. Checking the hall before leaving the security office she spied two of the hijackers walking away and snuck out after them. She slipped to the left of one of the men and whispered in his ear. "Hey." The man whipped around as Aellai danced away.

"What?! What's wrong?" The other asked pulling his gun.

"I donno, I thought I heard something." He looked everywhere in the hall. Aellai couldn't resist a laugh and forced it into a creepier sound. Both men now had their guns out as they searched the area.

Aellai slid between them and landed a hard punch to base of the closest neck. He dropped like a stone and she danced away again before the remaining man could turn his gun on her. She slowly stepped behind him as he checked his buddy and he hit the ground as well. Aellai pulled two of the zip-cuffs out and secured the men before dragging them into a nearby supply cabinet. She wished she had something to gag them with but came up lacking.

She kept prowling the hallways stopping at every cross section to listen and look. She didn't trust taking the mag-lev so the going was slow. She came across four more guards and subdued them as easily as the first. Even though she hadn't been in a real fight since she escaped, her body knew what to do without even thinking. _Six down, fourteen to go she thought to herself_. She knew with help this would get done much quicker but didn't want to chance anyone being seen or heard leaving Bridger's quarters.

After walking by the mess hall she decided to get some more supplies for the crew. They had been locked up for hours now and probably were hungry. She gathered water and some meal bars in a bag and extended her magic to make it invisible as well. She took a deep breath as she wiped sweat from her forehead.

Aellai easily got to the Captain's room but was dismayed to find two guards at the door. She stepped back and thought. She could get rid of them with no problems but they were so close to the bridge, she didn't want to cause noise. She glanced up at the ducts and decided to find an access point.

In the dark twisting ducts she had to hold her breath several times to keep from choking with dust and was soon streaked with filth and sweat. She found a grate and peered through. No one was in the room but she could hear speaking faintly. _Next room_, she guessed. Pressing on she located the next duct. She could see the crew and hear them trying to come up with a plan. She needed to alert of her being there without startling them. She wished Lucas hadn't turned off his mini-link and glared at him through the mesh.

Lucas' head jerked up. He could have sworn he heard the annoyed tone Aellai sometimes used with him. He stood and looked around attracting odd looks from his fellow prisoners. Tony watched him and opened his mouth to ask what was going on but Lucas raised his hand before he could. "Aellai?" He whispered. Turning suddenly to the mesh he heard a small scratching sound. "Watch the door!" He urged in a hushed voice.

Tony stood and looked out the window before leaning against it. The guards hadn't moved and now couldn't see inside. He nodded to Lucas and the teen pried off the mesh.

Aellai's dirty face peaked out. "Hey guys! Thirsty?" She tossed the bag on the floor. Before crawling out herself.

"Are you ok?" Asked Lucas worriedly.

She rubbed her face spreading more dust. "Yeah just tired and hot. I had to stop using magic to drag myself through those stupid ducts. I brought some supplies since I don't think it's safe to bust you out yet. I took out a few hijackers but being so close to the bridge there are more of them around and it would just create more problems."

O'Neill opened the bag and started passing the food and water around. "Eat and drink fast before they see the evidence." He suggested. "So what's going on?"

"I don't really know more than before. They aren't saying anything about a boss other than the guy who's leading them now and haven't said any destination. All I can figure is they know about Dr. Smith and don't want anyone to hear anything." The men agreed with her assessment. "It's been slow but I'm trying to get as many as I can."

"I'm coming back with you." Lucas said at once, Aellai started shaking her head. "I'll help you, you can't do it all on your own."

"And if they come check on you?"

"We'll get them before then!" Aellai didn't like the idea of putting Lucas in any more danger but knew it would take her hours if not days to bring down the rest by herself. By then the crew could be anywhere.

"Ok, but you need to listen to me when I tell you do something."

Crocker spoke up, "If they do come back in, we may be better off telling them you escaped through the vents. We won't be able to put this back on right, it's too bent. They won't know there are two of you and Lucas is the only one of us who can fit through there."

Aellai pulled out the sock and gave each man a mini-link. "Turn them on if someone comes in. You may not get another chance." She turned to Lucas. "We need to work quickly before they find you're gone."

Taking the bag, now full of empties, she slid into the duct followed by Lucas. They crawled to the access panel and she carefully checked the hall before coming out. "Go invisible" he whispered.

"And what about you?"

"I just won't let myself be seen." He answered with a cocky smile. "We need to get into our quarters; I'll start up the new security program. Even with the bugs in it, it should help." For the past month they had been designing a program to track people on the ship. It showed heat signatures and some health information for each person.

They walked fast as possible to not create noise and Lucas nearly ran into two guards when he rounded a corner. They yelped in surprise and Aellai sprang into action attacking them. They were soon on the floor tied up and unconscious. Lucas looked in her direction, "That... was a little scary. Remind me not to piss you off."

She snorted "You piss me off every day. I just don't beat you for it." They dragged the two men into an empty room and locked the door behind them. "I hope I can remember where I put them all when this is done. It could get smelly after a few weeks." Aellai said dryly.

They got to their quarters without any further issues and Lucas fired up his computers. "Be careful," Aellai advised "When I contacted Wolfman they knew someone was using the system."

Lucas shook his head. "That's only for calls, and remind me to teach you how to call someone without leaving tracks like that. It's pretty simple."

"Maybe for you genius boy." She grumbled, Lucas gave her a toothy grin over his shoulder.

"Ok, it's up. I can see the guys you already took out." He zoomed in on a few rooms after a map of the ship popped up. "Looks like five on the bridge and rest are in the halls... uh oh... Someone is coming to Bridger's quarters! I think I'm about to be figured out."

They watched the screen together for a few moments and saw a person shaped blob followed by two more enter the room. The computer beeped as his blood pressure when up. As he ran out of the room, as the blobs in the room merged together and walked to the bridge. "They didn't even have enough time to turn on their mini-links!" Lucas whispered horrified.

* * *

Over the ship's intercom came Reed's voice. "Hello Lucas, I see you wiggled away. Not to worry, my men will be picking you up very soon."

"We have to go now!" Aellai whispered harshly. "This is the first place they'll look! "Lucas was already shutting down his computers and running to the door. As he opened it he plowed into the two men who were about to open it. "NO!" Screamed Aellai as they grabbed him. Jumping toward them, she grabbed one around the throat.

The panicked man let go of Lucas and struck out. Blood spurted from seemingly nowhere. "What is going on?!" Raged the other as he watched his partner be pummeled by nothing. Aellai dropped the man and he slumped to the floor barely breathing. She turned to the other still holding Lucas.

"Let him go and I won't rip out your eyeballs." He was a long time mercenary, but when dripping blood says it will attack you, anyone would get scared. He looked up and down trying to fathom what was happening. She stuck as he popped out from behind Lucas and he dropped to his knees as well.

Lucas helped her bind them and drag them into their room. "I'm sorry, that was all my fault. I should have checked."

Aellai reappeared and checked her shirt it was covered in blood but her nose had stopped bleeding. With an annoyed grunt she pulled it off and pulled another one. She checked the mini-link in her ear and attached the microphone to her new shirt. Taking Lucas' hand she led him from the room. "Don't worry about that, let's just worry about keeping you alive."

* * *

On the bridge, the little bald man watching the monitors let out a laugh, "Reed, you need to see this video feed from the hallway. I was watching when Peters and Lanch went to the boy's room. You are not going to believe what is on this ship!" The restrained crew looked at each other uneasily; it looked like their secret weapon was just exposed.

Jameson was watching the video just behind Reed, "I know her. I've seen her fight. She's a special from Panama. I thought she was dead. "

Reed spun around. "What can she do?"

"Well aside from being a damn good fighter, she can do impressive magic. Didn't know she disappear like that though. That's new."

Reed turned back to his intelligence officer. "Get me the files on those two!" After reading a few minutes, Reed started to laugh. "Wow, are we gonna get some money on these two! Listen to this; Lucas Wolenczak, Head computer analyst, must be some kind of genius! Look how old he was when he joined the crew! Aellai... hm no last name, engineer and... and fighter? Have you ever seen a classification like that?" His men all shook their heads. "Well, this is even more interesting, they share the same quarters. That means we just need to get the boy and she'll do whatever we say."

Reed picked up his communicator and barked into "All men to the bridge now!" When only a few men checked in he flew into a rage. "Really? She took out ten grown fighting men? I don't care if she is a Greek fighting goddess. How could a little girl take out so many without us knowing?"

He crossed the deck and picked up Ben Krieg by the neck dragging him over to a console, slamming the intercom button down he spoke into it. "Hello kids, I have someone who wants to talk to you. What's your name sailor?" Ben pressed his lips in a thin line and refused to answer. "Oh well, he's shy but I think you know who had a bad head injury. If I remember my medicine correctly people with head injuries should be careful for a while, right?"

Lucas and Aellai covered their mouths in terror as they heard a sharp smack followed by a shout of pain and a muffled thump over the intercom. Aellai looked into Lucas' sicken eyes, "We can't let this happen."

"Let's see, who's next. Oh Mr. O'Neill, I think I owe you a bit more for not cooperating earlier." The teens heard another smack again followed by a yell. "Now boys and girls, you can stop this if you just come to the bridge. I have a deal for you two."

"I'm going." announced Aellai standing and walking away from Lucas.

"So am I."

Joining hands they walked to the bridge to face what Reed wanted. Before they walked in the doors, Aellai turned to Lucas. "I have a plan to help everyone. But you can't try to stop it understand?" Lucas looked troubled but nodded.

As they entered they could see O'Neil and Krieg on the floor not moving. Two of the hijackers frisked them before bringing them to Reed. They laid Aellai's knife, extra mini-links, and zip-cuffs on the console next to the smirking man. "Thank you for being so obedient. This is my offer. I will free all your friends here in an escape pod if you come quietly with us. You will show me where you left my men and we will ransom you to the highest bidder."

Before Lucas could respond, Aellai stepped forward. "I have a better offer. You know what I am?" Reed nodded looking skeptical. "I will join you and fight for you if you let Lucas go too."

Lucas shrieked and lunged towards her but was caught by the nearest guard. "No! Please don't!" He whimpered looking at her.

Aellai refused to look back at him as Reed stared her down. "How do I know you will not betray me?"

She shrugged. "Blood oath. It's a difficult magic but I will physically not be able to break it."

The crew gasped as Lucas struggled harder. Reed thought for a moment, "Ok, but you do it and then I will free them. Say goodbye to your lover boy." He said mockingly.

Aellai slowly turned and looked into Lucas' tear stained face. "I'm sorry; it's the only way to keep you safe. I love you." She turned back. "I just need my knife again and you should all step back."

"Why do you need a knife?" Reed narrowed his eyes at her.

"Blood... for the blood oath." Aellai looked at him like he was stupid.

Reed handed it to her and everyone backed away a few more feet. Aellai placed the blade in her palm and started mumbling to herself as she cut into the flesh. The crew was unable to tear their eyes away. They had all seen her do magic but this felt completely different. They could feel the power gathering in the room and collecting around her.

With a shout she jerked both arms straight out at Reed without touching him. He only had time to flinch before flying through the air and hitting the wall and then the ground hard. At the same time red ropes appeared out of nowhere and secured the remaining hijackers. Aellai fell to her knees but kept her arms out. Lucas jumped up and ran to her. "Quickly!" She gasped, "Get the crew un-cuffed and tie up the hijackers!"

He ran to Reed's pocket to and found a handcuff key inside. Running to Tony Piccolo he unlocked him and tossed him the key and grabbed the zip-cuffs. Within moments Crocker was helping him finish and Lucas hurried back to Aellai. "Everyone?" She asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

Lucas nodded and was terrified to see how pale she had become. She lowered her shaking arms and collapsed in his arms.

* * *

A few hours later Lucas was standing next to Aellai's bed in the medbay. She hadn't woken up since she passed out and he was very concerned. Her skin felt very hot and she was still white as a sheet. Tony had carried her away from the bridge after they had gotten the ship back on course and O'Neill woke up enough to contact the UEO. Now he and Krieg were both in beds beside Aellai. Crocker and Piccolo were driving the ship back to home port under the watchful video eye of Captain Bridger.

Lucas was very frustrated, he wanted to know why Aellai had collapsed but no on board had any medical training that could help. Her vitals were all good other than her body heat so all they could do was wait. Dr. Smith and Commander Ford were on their way on a shuttle but were an hour away still at least.

As he watched her face, her eyelids began to flutter. "Hey, come on sweetie, wake up." Her hand tightened on his. "That's it, come back to me."

With a soft groan she opened her eyes and blinked at him. "Is everyone ok?" she rasped.

Lucas broke out into a huge smile. "Yes they are. How about you? You scared the crap out of us! I'd be pretty pissed if you weren't such a hero right now."

"Sorry," She softly touched his face. "It was all I could come up with fast. I can't believe he bought in to it. I mean a blood oath? How childish is that?" She started to laugh.

Lucas blinked at her and started to laugh, "I thought that was weird, but you're pretty weird so I believed it too. Why did you pass out though? I don't understand."

Aellai closed her eyes slowly and looked like she was going to drop back in to sleep but responded, "It was still blood magic. It's very powerful and I knew I had to take out everyone at once. It took a lot out of me but it worked." Her whole body relaxed and Lucas knew he had lost her to sleep again.

* * *

The next day Aellai felt fully recovered and was begging Dr. Smith to let her go. "I'll take it easy I promise. I just want to be in my own bed."

Dr. Smith shook her head, "Nope, not until I find out why your temperature is so high. It's starting to lower but I don't want you passing out in the hall."

"Actually, I think it's the magic. I've never had to use it for such prolonged periods of time and I think it just warms me up for some reason. But now that I think of it, I always feel warmer when I'm doing magic."

Dr. Smith wasn't sure she completely believed the girl but decided to let it go. "Alright, but go directly to your room and stay there. And!" She put a restraining hand on the eager girl's thin shoulder. "Wait until I call Lucas to escort you there. He may not listen to me about his own health but he'll do as I say concerning yours!"

Aellai scowled but soon it turned into a smile as Lucas came bounding into the room. With intertwined hands, they walked out of the medbay.

* * *

Jenn Frikin did not what to call her boss. She did not want to tell what she had found out happened to his ship. As her phone buzzed in her hand she groaned. "Yes sir, I'm here... no sir... all captured." She had to pull the phone away from her ear as her boss screamed at her. "I'm sorry sir, I don't know much but I'll be reviewing the video from the SeaQuest as soon as the computer bug sends it to me. At least Reed was able to do that much... Yes Mr. Lutiz as soon as I know anything..."

* * *

**Author's note: I think I finally got all my formatting issues figured out. It only took about six attempts. I'm hoping to get a new computer soon so maybe I won't have to fight with it anymore. Please let know what you think of my stories! I was rather worried about introducing a whole new person but I really didn't want to beat up Lucas to much!**


	3. Hunger

Aellai awoke with a dull ache in her temples and her stomach twisting. _Ug_, she thought_ I have been working to hard_. In the few days following the hijacking, the SeaQuest brass had decided they need to vastly upgrade their security on the ship. Working with Lucas Wolenczak, they had combined the heat signature scans with fingerprint readers on every important door. Now they would know not only who was in what room but what their health stats were as well. It was currently arguing with the ship's scanners and the teens were going from room to room re-wiring everything trying to find the problem. The UEO wanted to install regular cameras in every room but Captain Bridger refused on the ground of it being too invasive to his crew privacy.

Aellai pulled on her uniform and started out the door running directly in a very large man. "Oh! I'm sorry Dagwood!"

The large but gentle Dagger turned to look at the tiny girl. He had been mopping the hallway and wouldn't have even noticed she ran into him if she hadn't said anything. She didn't even come up to his shoulder. "Are you hurt Aellai?" He asked slowly looking concerned.

Aellai rubbed her head, "No, not from you. Just not feeling so hot."

"Maybe you should ask them to turn down the heat in your room."

Aellai shook her head and immediately wished she hadn't. "No, no. I mean I don't feel good. I feel sick." Dagwood blinked at her and nodded. "I'm going to head to the gym and punch things until I feel better."

"Ok..." Dagwood watched her go and made a few swings in the air. It didn't make_ him_ feel any better. Maybe she was doing something different.

In the gym Aellai was happy to find she was alone. She didn't like working out with an audience. People tended to be amazed at her speed and when she started to add her magic the polite looks turned into outright stares. After only about thirty minutes she started to feel worse. She suddenly grew very dizzy and tried to grab the near by safety bar on the treadmill. Her hand missed and her vision tunneled to blackness.

* * *

Lucas awoke an hour later and stretched. As was the norm, Aellai was already gone. He knew he would find her at the mess hall or working on something already. Some times he grumbled that she made him look lazy but since he knew her inability to sleep was from her childhood and tried not to tease too much.

The thin teen boy pushed a lock of very blonde hair from his blue eyes and lurched out of bed. He didn't feel awake enough to visit the mess hall so he rooted around to find some food. Since he started to share a room with Aellai it mainly stayed much cleaner than before but he was surprised to find several meal bars on his desk by the computer. "She must have been stocking up for a long night." He muttered to himself.

Heading out Lucas tried to remember where he had last left his tools for the security job. Rounding a corner he became the next person to run into Dagwood. The G.E.L.F. turned at looked at the young genius now sitting on the floor. "Is Lucas going to punch things too?"

"I...What?" Lucas stared up at him knowing he missed something.

"Aellai ran into me too. Then she said she was going to punch things 'til she felt better. I tried it but I don't think it worked. Can you teach me how she does it?" Dagwood reached down to help up his friend.

"Um, not now Dag, maybe tonight?" Lucas felt bad blowing off Dagwood but he really wanted to get back to work. He jogged to the gym to find Aellai, watching where he was going this time. He poked his head in the door. "Aellai? Are you... oh god! Aellai!" The girl he cared about more than anything was laying on the floor with blood trickling down her cheek.

* * *

Lucas held Aellai's hand tightly in the med bay. "Come on wake up, tell me what's wrong." He was near tears but held it back due to the medical personal buzzing around him.

Captain Bridger was near by talking to Dr. Wendy Smith in low tones. "Do you know what it is yet?"

Dr. Smith shook her head. "No, she has very low blood sugar and her pulse is rapid but I can find no reason for it. Since she hit her head I don't want to do metal scan until I know she is ok. I may do more harm than good."

Bridger looked at the teens sadly. "She looks so small like that." Her face looked peaceful but drawn. He could see Lucas choking back sobs as he tried to get her to wake up. "After you find out what's happening, I think both of them need some R & R. The new system isn't worth this."

Dr. Wendy agreed and walked over to the bed. "Lucas?" she asked gently. The boy looked up and rubbed away tears. "Can I ask you a few questions to try to help her?" Lucas gulped and nodded. "I know you both have been working a lot but have you noticed anything odd about how Aellai has been behaving?"

Lucas shook his head. "Not really but we haven't seen each other much. Even during meals she just grabs a bar and heads out. We haven't even talked much."

Dr. Wendy thought for a moment. "Have you actually seen her eat anything?"

Lucas sighed in annoyance._ Everyone was always trying to make both of them eat! They weren't so young that they couldn't feed themselves!_ But before he could make an angry retort he remembered the bars in his room. "No... I haven't. And... today I found a bunch of the meal bars she likes in our room. I can't imagine she was so busy that she wouldn't eat though." He shook his head in confusion.

Dr. Wendy's next question was cut off by the startled gasp from Lucas as hand was squeezed. "Lucas?" murmured Aellai.

"Hey, welcome back hun." He brushed her spiky black hair along her forehead. "How do you feel? Do you remember what happened."

Dr. Wendy wanted to push him out-of-the-way and ask her own questions. She was more than a little annoyed that Aellai hadn't been eating. She let him administer to the girl to avoid a scene.

"I... I'm not sure. I wasn't feeling good this morning so I went to the gym to see if some exercise would help. I guess not." She said lamely trying to get Lucas to laugh.

Dr. Wendy approached her. "Aellai, have you been eating?"

"Yeah of course. I didn't this morning because I felt bad but yesterday I grabbed a few meal bars and an apple. I haven't had time to actually eat in the mess hall though."

"Think back to yesterday. Lucas saw you take food too, but did you actually eat it?"

Aellai looked at her dumbfounded. _What a stupid question!_ But has she thought she realized she didn't know if she had eaten. Her expression turned from annoyed to guilty and then shamed. "Oh... um... I guess I didn't. I'm sorry. I got so distracted by the computer scans I must have set it down and forgot."

"Aellai, I saw six or seven bars sitting there, when was the last time you ate?" Lucas asked looking cross.

She thought for a few moments, "I'm not really sure. When did we have those burgers with Ben?" She asked Lucas.

Lucas' jaw dropped in shock. "That was four days ago." He was starting to get mad but tried not to show. "How could you have not eaten for four days and not know?"

Aellai felt horrible and guilty. "I really don't know. I remember taking food with the intent to eat it but I don't remember ever eating it." She was openly crying.

"Ok, we can fix this. You just need a couple days rest here and few good meals." Dr. Smith tried consoling her. "Lucas I think you should stay too. I know you have been working just as hard as she has."

"The security system can wait. I'm ordering both of you two days bed rest, more for you Aellai if the Doctor says you need it. I want both of you to obey her, no arguing, no work." Bridger looked at both teens sternly.

Aellai and Lucas didn't argue and Dr. Wendy started making up a bed for Lucas. After he was settled in the doctor brought a small meal for Aellai. "You need to eat this slowly, and all of it."

Aellai took it without saying anything. She still felt so stupid, _what was going on with her?_ She picked up a bun and ripped it in half. She took a small mouthful and her stomach grumbled angrily. The bun tasted great but her mouth felt odd. The bun started to stick to the roof of her mouth and all the saliva seemed to dry up. She started to choke and spat it out in a napkin. Her stomach lurched and she fought to keep the bile down. Dr. Wendy came running as she flung herself over the edge of the bed and started throwing up violently. Lucas was rubbing her back and Dr. Wendy pulled a bucket from nowhere and helped her direct the mess. Even when her stomach was completely empty she was wracked with painful dry heaves.

"Oh, god. I'm so sorry. I tried to eat slow. I didn't even swallow. I swear!" Aellai wept as Dr. Wendy cleaned her up and transferred her to another bed. She was humiliated. Lucas looked at her very worried.

"That's ok. You're bound have some problems until you feel better. Why don't you try to eat some fruit?

Aellai shook her head. "I don't think I could. Can I just have some juice? See if that stays down?"

Dr. Wendy handed her a glass of orange juice. "If that stays down, we'll try a protein drink."

Aellai slowly slipped the juice. It burned a little as it went down but the coolness felt good in the end. After a few minutes it stayed in her stomach and Dr. Wendy offered her a thickish pink liquid. Aellai slowly drank it as well. After the glass was drained she leaned back and pulled the blanket up. "Can I sleep for a while? I'm really tired now."

Dr. Wendy helped adjust her blanket and turned out the light. She motioned to Lucas to follow her into the next room as the pale girl drifted to sleep. "When was the last time you saw her nap or even say she was tired?" She asked worriedly.

Lucas just shook his head. "I don't think she's ever said that. Whats wrong with her?"

"I don't know. I just hope we can get some calories into her. She's very malnourished right now. I'll set up a drip and that'll help some. We can put a feeding tube in if need be but it's fairly invasive and I'd rather not do that. After she wakes up I'll do some more tests."

Lucas walked back into the room and sat next to Aellai. The mess had been cleaned up and all he could smell was cleaning solution. He just stared at her face willing her to get better. Her eyes were sunken and she looked much paler than normal. Even his very light toned hand looked tan in her's. He didn't know what he would do if he lost her. He needed her to get well.

* * *

Bridger and Dr. Wendy looked over the test results, nothing looked out-of-place. "Did you give her a pregnancy test?" Captain asked.

Dr. Wendy nodded, "That was one of the first blood tests I did. It would explain the nausea. She had the shot a while ago and I don't think they've done anything yet, but nothing else is showing up. I can't see any ulcers, no intestine twisting, all the way up and down she looks normal. Liquids don't cause her any problems so we can stay with that for a while but she needs real food too."

The next day, Dr. Wendy looked in on Aellai and Lucas as they talked. She wished the boy would get more sleep but wouldn't use the bed they had set up for him. He sat in a chair by Aellai and held her hand constantly. She was very worried how thin the girl's face looked. Dr. Wendy walked into the room. "I have something I want to ask you Aellai. I know you really don't like it, but I want to do a mindscan on you. Maybe we can get some answers."

"Yes, please. I was going to ask you to when I saw you next." Dr. Wendy raised an eyebrow. The girl must really be bad if she was so ok with a scan.

Dr. Wendy positioned herself at the head of the bed and placed her hands on Aellai's forehead. She concentrated on the insides of the girls body. She saw the shrunken stomach was, and tried not to break the connection with the fear she was feeling for Aellai's health. _Everything looks normal!_ She thought to herself. The doctor directed her psychic ability up into Aellai's mind. She saw the girl was trying to stay calm and leave her walls down and could see flashes of her memories. She saw what looked like a locked box in a dark corner of the mindscape.

She crouched down to the box and using all of her powers forced it open. For a moment she understood and then was physically blasted back from Aellai and landed in a crumpled heap on the floor against the wall.

* * *

Captain Bridger looked from one bed to the other. He didn't know who he was more scared for. Aellai had not been responsive since the mind scan and Dr. Wendy had also not woken up. Lucas sat between them looking like he was just trying to hold it together. "Don't worry so much kiddo, we'll get this mess straighten out." Bridger sounded much more sure than he felt but he didn't need Lucas going into a full-blown panic attack. There was another doctor and a powerful Psychic on their way and he hoped it would be an easy solution.

* * *

Wendy was floating in the dark, she knew she had to wake up. She had to help Aellai, but she couldn't find the door. Sometimes she would hear muffled voices around her but none led her out of the darkness. Every time she thought about the locked box she burned with rage. _How could they do that to the child? How _did_ they even do it?_ As she raged she saw a light, it was getting brighter and brighter. She could also hear a voice calling out to her. Wendy moved towards it and awoke with a shout."Know what it is!"

The psychic who had been trying to reach her jumped back in surprise. "I guess you're back. I'm Brenda Makleson, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, we need to help Aellai." She looked into the next bed and gasped. The girl was drawn up in a fetal position and looked grey. "What happened?"

"We don't know, I guess after your scan she wouldn't wake up. Everytime we try to straighten her legs and arms she screams and drags them back. I'm Doctor Keri." A young red-head woman reached out her hand but Dr. Wendy ignored it.

"Please come with me, Nathan you too." She walked briskly into the other room trying ignore Lucas' frantic looks. The doctor, psychic, and Bridger watched her solemnly. "When I was inside, I saw a box. It was locked and when I forced it open I finally saw what was going on.

"Someone, probably when she was still in the fighting arena, placed a powerful control in her mind. After a set amount of time away from her master she would stop eating. She just forgets and if someone forces her to, her stomach rebels. It was a lasting punishment if she ever escaped. It's very strong. I don't know how to get it out." Everyone in the room looked at her in absolute horror.

* * *

Simon Lutiz watched his computer monitor in glee. "Well it looks like its working perfectly. I have to say, good job on this." He turned to look at Christopher Rake. "How soon until step two starts?"

Aellai's old master smiled evilly. "Should be another day. Two if they shove a feeding tube down her throat. Once she gets to the desired weakness, she's our's again."

Both men laughed as they turned back to the screen. "Do you know if we can see in the office? I want to know what the doctors are saying."

A dark look crossed the disposed President's face. Since Reed and his men had uploaded the virus he was suppose to be able to see and hear everything on the ship but only about half of the scanners seemed to working properly. The rest only showed body heat indicators. When Lutiz couldn't get an answer from his technical advisor, he shot the man in a fit of rage. They were no closer to an answer on that front. "No!" He snapped, "It's not working like it should. Maybe that damn brat boyfriend of her's is interrupting the signal some how. No matter, she's already to weak to fight back, and soon she'll be begging to come to us."

* * *

Aellai crunched herself into a small ball. Everywhere around her was burning white light that she couldn't look at. As much as she covered her eyes and hid her face, she couldn't block out the light. Her head roared with pain and her limbs felt like they were on fire. "What hell is this?" She asked herself.

* * *

Dr. Wendy touched Lucas' shoulder. "You need sleep." The boy looked up her and she was troubled but just how dark the circles around his eyes had gotten. "You need to eat too, do think I haven't seen you pushing food away."

"I'll sleep and eat when she's better. I'm not leaving her."

Dr. Wendy leaned down and hugged the sitting boy. "I know how you feel. We are all scared. We are planning out our next move. If it works and we can help her some, will you sleep? You can stay here, but please sleep." The teen nodded.

It had taken Dr. Wendy a while to explain to Lucas what was happening in Aellai's mind. She wasn't sure he still fully understood it but he knew the girl was in grave danger. They talked about placing a feeding tube in her stomach but given the response when she just tried to eat Dr. Wendy felt it would do more harm than good.

Brenda Makleson And Dr. Keri came into the room. "Ready?" Asked Brenda.

"Yes, Lucas please, I just need you to back up for safety reasons. I know you want to hold her hand but given what happened last time I did this, I don't think it's a good idea." Lucas' tortured face raised to Dr. Wendy's. He stood and after placing a kiss on Aellai's forehead he backed up.

"Ok, Dr. Wendy, if you could?" Brenda said reaching out to take her hand. Standing on either side of the bed they placed their hands on Aellai's face and concentrated. Dr. Kari stood at the foot of the bed watching the monitors carefully.

Entering her mind Dr. Wendy was shocked to find it so bright. There were no defining shapes or colors. It was just painfully white. Brenda pointed out the small figure laying some distance away. Propelling herself forward, Dr. Wendy reached her first. The girl looked worse in her mindscape than she did in the real world. "Aellai... Aellai. It's Wendy. We're here to help you."

Aellai moaned and covered her ears tighter._ No one was saving her, no one could, she was alone._ She felt a hand on her shoulder and tried to jump into a fighting stance but she was just too weak. Blinking in the horrible light she saw the two women. "Are you real?" She croaked. The women took her hands and brought her out the way they had came.

Stepping out of her mind they were very pleased to see her eyelids flutter. Lucas pushed by Dr. Wendy to get to her. "Aellai, sweetie, can you hear me?"

She weakly nodded and started to get up. Dr. Wendy carefully held her down. "You need to stay there. We were able to wake you but you are still very sick."

"No, please. Let me go back." She whispered. "I need to go back."

"Go back where Aellai?" Asked Lucas clutching her hand.

"My master. I must go back to my master..." Aellai slipped back into unconsciousness as the other people in the room looked at each other worriedly.

* * *

"How do we stop something that has been put into her brain years ago?" Captain Bridger's temper flared briefly. Whatever he thought was wrong with the girl, he never could have imagined this.

In the ward room the faces of his officers reflected his frustrations but no one said anything.

Lt. Ben Krieg cracked his knuckles._ I didn't know how to fight this. I didn't know how to help my friends._ "What if we go back? What if we find her master and bring him here for questioning?"

Bridger sighed. "No one knows where he is. He was bailed out and disappeared, no record of who paid. That's why I've pushed this new security system so much. He hasn't been sighted anywhere but I don't want to take chances. Especially since we still don't know who was behind the hijacking."

His crew looked up at him in shock. "And you haven't told us this, why?!" Demanded Krieg.

Commander Ford made a sudden movement as if to stop Krieg's disrespect but Bridger waved him down. "No, Jonathan, he's right. I should have told you all. I was so worried about how Aellai would react I didn't want the information spread around. That's also one of the reasons I allowed them to move in with each other. They both roam around this ship alone too much, I hoped to stop that."

"What did the Doctor say?" Asked Lt Commander Hitchcock.

"She's very worried about Aellai wanting to go back. She thinks maybe it's part of the programming. We need to keep Aellai here in the medbay under guard until this is fixed. But I don't want it to look like she's being held. That may be too much for both her and Lucas." Bridger's eyes dropped to the floor. "He's not doing good at all. Wendy had to sedate him after Aellai started trying to leave. He's resting now but I don't know what he'll do. If she gets bad enough he may even try to help her leave and get to her master." The crew looked doubtful. "I know it seems like a stretch but he's terrified of her dying."

* * *

Aellai was drifting again but this time it was dark. Dark and comfortable." You have to go back" a voice whispered in her head. "He will save you. He will protect you."

"No... no... I can't. He'll kill me." She argued back.

"GO BACK!" Screamed the voice. "It is your fault, if you hadn't left this wouldn't be happening. You abandoned him after all he did for you. He took you in after your parents left you. This is your punishment until you go to him."

"No! You're lying. They were... they were... gone. Why were they gone?" She couldn't remember clearly anymore. Things that seemed so important seemed to be drifting away._ Why was she fighting it_? People's faces flashed through her mind. _Who were these people?_ An older man with a kind smile with salt and pepper hair, a tall man with oddly colored skin patches, a good-looking man not much older than her with a mischievous smile, and a blonde boy... _who was the blonde boy?_

* * *

Aellai tossed back and forth on the bed, the lap belt holding her down. Krieg tried to hold her hands but was pushed away. He could hear her mumbling. "Settle down, hun. It'll be ok. We'll fix you."

"No... no... please..." He heard her whisper.

Lucas started to shift in the next bed. Ben stood from his chair and crossed to him. "Hey kid. How are you feeling?"

Lucas blinked sleepily back. "What happened? How is she?"

Ben hesitated. He knew Lucas would be mad he was knocked out. "Um, after she woke up you got a little... out of control. The doctors had to give you a shot so you wouldn't hurt yourself."

It took a while for the words to register in Lucas' mind. He remembered Aellai waking up and trying to get away. When people tried to restrain her, she screamed and he pushed them away. Lucas looked at the floor, "Oh... I guess I should say sorry for that."

Ben raised an eyebrow but said nothing. _Maybe the kid is more mature than me_ he mused. _I'd be pissed off._ A sudden beeping stopped his thoughts. A temp gage attached to Aellai was going off as she shimmered into nothingness.

Krieg jumped to the bed and felt something push him back into Lucas. The temp gage stopped beeping as the was thrown to the floor. Now the heart monitor started to shrilly scream as it bounced away. Dr. Wendy ran into the room after hearing the noises. Seeing the bed empty she started walking towards it with her arms out. "Please Aellai, you need to stay here, you need to stay with us." She felt something brush under her arm a turned to grab at it but was too slow.

Aellai ran down the halls, where was she? She couldn't remember anything she saw. She tried to dodge people as she ran but knew she pushed a few down. She ran to a spiral staircase and started down, with a cry she missed a step and plummeted to the bottom where she came to rest under the last few steps. _No! No_! She thought desperately as everything went black again.

Dr. Wendy and Ben ran down the hall looking for any sign of the missing girl. A few crew members pointed down the stairs where they had heard and felt some one going past. Running down the stairs, however, they found nothing. "Lucas! Get Lucas, I have an idea!" Spurted Krieg. They ran back to the medbay and found the teen trying to get out the door. The sedative from earlier had fogged his brain and slowed his body. "We need to you start-up your security system!" Shouted Krieg.

Wendy understood immediately. "Her raised body temp will be easy to locate compared to everyone else."

Lucas blinked at them and slowly started jogging to get his equipment. He was going to slow for the adults and Ben singled to Dagwood as he watched them. "Carry him and follow us!" The large G.I.L.F scooped the boy up and ran after them.

Lucas' stomach lurched as he was jostled in Dagwood's arms but he grit his teeth and said nothing. They needed to find Aellai before she escaped. Any embarrassment would have to wait.

After he was deposited at his desk in the room he shared with the missing girl, he started scanning. After thirty seconds he shouted. "There, by the stairs!" Her heat signature glowed brightly. Pushing a few more buttons, he called up her health stats. "She looks ok, maybe knocked out though, she isn't moving."

Dr. Wendy looked at the screen, "Why didn't we see her when we were there? Could she have stayed invisible while unconscious?" Lucas just shook his head showing he didn't know.

The two adults ran from the room and Lucas tried to follow them, but found he was still to oozy to run. He looked at Dagwood pleadingly. "Please?" The large man scooped up his friend again and ran after the retreating figures.

On the lower deck Tony Piccolo was about to jog up the stars, he had heard shouting and everyone around looked very confused. He was very concerned for Lucas and Aellai. Before he could lift his foot for the first step he went sprawling. Looking back he could see nothing but a small pool of blood. He crawled forward feeling the ground. He was rewarded by finding a foot attached to a leg. Feeling like a blind man, he carefully found the rest of the body. Getting to an arm he heard a cry. Carefully she picked up the small body and started up the steps. "If this is anyone but you Aellai, I'll be very upset." He murmured to the girl.

The doctor and Krieg came to a skidding stop when they saw Tony at the top of the stairs. "Do you have her? Dr. Wendy asked breathlessly. Dagwood stopped behind them and set Lucas down. They all looked at the empty spot in Piccolo's arms with fear in their faces.

"I think so, are there any other people here that can do this?" He asked trying to lighten the mood.

Dr. Wendy ignored the joke but didn't glare. She knew he was trying to make everyone feel better."Bring her in here, she may be hurt. I don't know how well I'll be able to treat her if I can't see her though."

Tony gently placed the girl on the bed in the medbay and stepped back. He worriedly looked at Lucas. The teen looked like he was about to drop. Only Dagwood's hand on his back was keeping him stable. "What do you say we get a bite to eat and let the good Doctor do her work?" He suggested. Lucas didn't bother to look at him. "Come on bud, she's in good hands." Lucas looked at him and Tony's heart broke when he saw the pure terror in his eyes. The boy nodded and slowly followed him out of the room with Dagwood trailing behind.

* * *

Dr. Wendy directed Ben how to secure Aellai to the bed. When she woke up again she would be mad but they had to keep her in there. Not being able to see her was an added problem. she slowly started to examine the girl starting with her head. "Hm." She said as her fingers came away with blood on them. "She has a head injury but I can't tell how bad." She kept slowly and softly searching the body until she got to the right arm. "Oh, here we go. Its broken, it feels clean though. I should be able to cast it right away." The arm felt swollen and hot but not lumpy.

"I'll call the Captain and tell him what happened." Ben dreaded what Bridger was going to say about Aellai getting away under his watch but he was ready to take responsibility. "I'll ask for more security too."

Dr. Wendy nodded and called Dr. Keri over. Together they carefully casted to arm and managed to inject some morphine into the still and hot body. Dr. Wendy placed her hand on Aellai's head again and came away with only a little blood. It felt sticky and almost dried. "It looks like she isn't bleeding too badly at least. That's all we can do for now."

* * *

In the mess hall Lucas slowly sipped some juice and nibbled on a bun. He wasn't hungry but knew he had to eat and try to think this thing out. _Why would she try to get away? I thought she was happy here...with me?_ His muddled brain shot a few cruel barbs back at him about not being enough for her. _No, I don't believe that, I can't._ Lucas became aware he was not breathing. _How do I breathe without screaming?_ He asked himself desperately.

Tony and Dagwood looked at each other uneasily, the boy in front of them seemed to behaving some internal monolog. "Lucas..." Dagwood started as he grabbed his hand suddenly. The shock of the large hand on his made Lucas gasp in air and he started breathing again. "Aellai will win. She always wins. She's stronger than even Dagwood!"

Lucas opened his eyes and tears the began to fall. "Thank you Dag, I'll remember that."

* * *

In the medbay Bridger was angry at Krieg but he tried not to show it. The Lt. had explained he was talking with Lucas when Aellai escaped and the Captain felt he couldn't blame the man. He stationed two guards outside the door and ordered the doors be closed at all time. If someone came through they had to be checked carefully to insure no one was with them. He looked sadly down at the cast laying on the bed. The other side showed an arm restraint that seemed to be tied around nothing. There were two leg restraints at the bottom that looked the same. It would be comical if the situation wasn't so dire. "Any updates Wendy?" He asked quietly.

Dr. Wendy and Dr. Keri shook their heads. "Not much, Lucas is out with Dagwood and Tony getting some food. That's pretty much the only good news."

Their attention was directed to Aellai as the girl began to moan. "Please... he has it... he has the word..."

Bridger kneeled next to her, "What word honey? Who has it?"

"Master... please...I need master."

* * *

Simon Lutiz slammed his fist down, "How did she know there was a reverse trigger?" He demanded of Rake.

"I'm not sure" stammered the man. "She shouldn't remember anything except to come back to me. Thats how the brainwashing is suppose to work."

"Well, they don't know what it is at least." Grumbled Lutiz.

"I don't understand why they don't just let her go or bring her back. Is she really worth that much trouble? I mean even when I was making money off of her I wouldn't have gone through all this for the bitch." Rake shook his head in disbelief. "The entire crew just seems dedicated to her. She must have bewitched them some how."

Lutiz stared at him for moment but all the arguments he could think of just seemed to be to cliché and kept quiet.

* * *

"I think I have to do another mindscan." Wendy said suddenly. "When I opened the box, some of the answer must have escaped into her mind. She can sense it there when her subconscious is active but not when she's awake." Bridger nodded. "I'll just get Brenda in case I get in trouble again." She left the room submitting to the check as Lucas came up. "We have some more to go on, Nathan will fill you in."

Lucas blinked at the short blow off but his heart soared when he heard there may have been a breakthrough. He pushed past the guard, not letting them check the doorway. "Captain? What's happening?" He asked running to Aellai's bedside.

Bridger tried to explain what had transpired to the teen. Lucas looked so hopeful he worried he was setting him up for a let down. As they were talking Tim O'Neill walked into the room looking ruffled from the guard's search. "Hey, I guess its my turn to sit with her unless you two want to be alone." He sized up the Captain and Lucas.

"No, stay, the more people there are here the better." Bridger sighed. "We can't risk her sneaking off again. Wendy has an idea to help her."

Dr. Wendy and Brenda walked in next. "Ok, I need to do another mindscan. It seems there is another trigger and it will be buried in her mind. I am going alone in case I get stuck in there. Somebody has worked very hard to keep this girl under their control and probably will have safeguards in place."

"Somebody?" Lucas said bitterly, "We know who it is."

O'Neill placed a hand on Lucas' shoulder and backed him from the bed but didn't argue. They were all feeling the same way.

Dr. Wendy carefully placed her hand on space where Aellai's forehead would be and willed herself inside. It looked very different from last time. She could see shapes and memories but they seemed blurred. She found the teen girl sitting looking at one memory playing as if on a movie screen.

Aellai looked up when she saw Wendy. "Hello, who are you? Are you taking me to Master?" Dr. Wendy didn't trust her voice and only shook her head no. "Oh, ok. I'll keep watching this. Do you know who it is? He seems very nice but I don't know who he is." Wendy's heart wrenched when she saw the memory was of Lucas.

She forced herself to walk away and further into the mindscape. She saw half formed walls and more flashes of memories. She stopped and watched Aellai, much smaller than now, looking down at a small crumpled boy. He was bleeding from the ears. Aellai dropped to her knees and began to howl. Wendy covered her mouth and turned away. There was something that seemed out-of-place in the wreck of the teen's mind. A small silver box was sitting in the corner of the room where she had just seen the death scene.

She picked it up and looked at it. It looked like an old music box with no lock. She opened and heard a whisper. "Kapitulation" She tried to listen again since she didn't recognise the word but it was silent.

Turning to go back, she was shocked to see Aellai behind her. "You should have that! IT ISN'T YOUR'S!" screamed the teen. Wendy scrambled back as Aellai came after her swinging wildly. "GET OUT!"

Wendy turned and ran from the mindscape. Opening her eyes she saw the crew in the medbay waiting watching her. "Kap...kaplation...?" She whispered before fainting away.

As she hit the floor Dr. Keri was checking her vitals. "She's ok, just out." O'Neill helped pick up Wendy and lay her on the other bed. "What was that she said?" Asked Dr. Keri. "Capitalization?"

"No, it was more like..." He started. "No, that's... so cruel..." The crew looked at him in confusion. He stepped to the bed and looked down "Kapitulation." He said clearly to invisible form under the blankets.

Aellai shimmered back into sight and began to scream.

* * *

All around her the walls were crumbling. The screens she had been watching started to tear and mix themselves together. "This is her fault!" She screamed. "She took the box, now everything is destroyed!" But as she watched, new screens began to form. She saw the blond boy with the perfect blue eyes. She reached out to touch the picture. "Who are you?" She whispered. She watched in confusion and despair as the scene changed and she saw the boy holding her as she cried, holding her as he kissed her, holding her as they slept... "Lucas..."

* * *

Bridger made a wild grab as Lucas darted past him to the bed. He had heard his name in the screams. Lucas half crawled on the bed to take Aellai's face in his hand. "Fight dammit, you come back and fight this!"

Aellai's eyes opened wide and she saw Luca's face above her's. She tried to grab him and was only slowed for a moment before her magic blasted away the cuffs. "Lucas... Lucas..." She whispered holding him.

The adults in the room watched in shock as the two teens held each other. Dr. Keri moved first. "I'm sorry Lucas but we have to check her out." He nodded but only moved a little. He kept a tight hand on her unbroken arm. "Do you know where you are?" She ask softy.

Aellai looked around, "Uh, medbay right? That's Captain Bridger, and Tim and... this is Lucas. But I'm not sure who you are. Where is Dr. Wendy?"

"Um, she's resting right now. I'm Dr. Keri. I've been helping her take care of you." She positioned her body so Aellai couldn't see the other bed. No sense in scaring the girl anymore than she was.

Dr. Keri finished her exam and looked at everyone. "She's fine, I don't see any damage a few good meals and several days rest won't fix. I don't notice any neural damage but we may have to do some scans to be sure. Her arm looks fine in the cast as well."

"Doctor?" Aellai said quietly, "Um, if you're done... I'm starving. Can I eat?"

Bridger had to turn away to hide the tear that started when he heard those simple words. He cleared his throat. "O'Neill, can you come with me for while?" The communications officer still looked sickened and Bridger needed to know what he knew. The Captain crossed the room and kissed Aellai's forehead. "Glad to have you back... kiddo." Lucas beamed at the Captain when he heard his own nickname being used for Aellai.

* * *

"So, what was it?" Captain Bridger stopped in the hallway and looked at O'Neill. "It sounded German but I didn't recognize the word."

The thin man swallowed and pulled his glasses off. "You know how after World War Two a lot of people fled to South America to escape punishment?" Bridger nodded. "Well, I'm guessing Aellai's master was related to one of them. It _was_ German. It meant... surrender. One last little torment for her." He rubbed his face trying to hide his tears. "How could a human being do that to a kid?"

Bridger just shook his head. "Don't know Tim, I just don't know."

* * *

Simon Lutiz screamed in rage at Rack. "How did they find that? HOW?" The man cowered before him with sweat on his pale brow. "I am SO sick of these screw ups!" Rack never saw the gun or bullet that tore into his brain.

* * *

Epilogue:

Aellai happily let her legs soak in the cool moon pool. She couldn't swim because of the cast but was enjoying watching Lucas and Darwin play. Darwin had strict orders to not splash her and he was having trouble beating Lucas while restricting his movements. She giggled as he squealed in frustration when Lucas stole the sponge again.

Lucas tossed the sponge to the other end and swam to Aellai. It had been a week since she woke up screaming and came back to him. She had gotten most of her color back and was even sleeping through the night. Today was the first day she was allowed out of the medbay and they were enjoying some time together not surrounded by doctors. "What are you thinking about?" He asked the quiet girl.

"Oh, you know, everything." He laughed at her evasive answer. "I guess I keep thinking of how close I came to dyeing. Or going back to Master. I keep trying to remember what was forcing me to try and leave but it won't come. I just get flashes." Lucas sobered. She couldn't remember anything that had happen in her mindscape but Dr. Wendy had told him what she saw.

"I'm also thinking, I'm ready."

"Ready?" Repeated Lucas.

"Yeah, I mean we live on a submarine. Crazy things happen nearly every day. We... could die at any time." Lucas stayed silent but took her hand. "Before that happens... I want to be with you..."

"Are you sure?" He asked gazing into her dark eyes. She nodded and led him from the moon pool.

* * *

**Author note: So I came up with this crazy story simply because I had a very strange stomach bug last week. I felt fine other than not being able to eat for about five days. The smell of food made me want to throw up. After a few days I started worry it was all in my mind. And while I don't pretend to be nearly as thin as I portray Aellai to be, not passing out became a pretty big battle. I became rather familiar with the feeling of extreme hunger and just trying to survive in my state. Feeling better now, and you guys get a story!**

**I hope you enjoyed it and please let me know what you think.**


	4. Homecoming

Almost seventeen year old Lucas Wolenczak brushed his blonde hair out of his eyes as he paused typing. Hearing a murmur from his sleeping girlfriend he glanced her way. She only rolled over and went quiet again. He really didn't want to wake Aellai up. Lucas had been working on a surprise for the girl for about two weeks now and was having a hard time finding time to do it without her knowledge. He used the excuse of needing to check the new security system for bugs before he went to sleep and she accepted it. She often joked that the sound of his typing could lull her to sleep anytime and it seemed this was one of those times. Watching her pixie like face framed in black short hair, Lucas reflected back to the conversation that started all of his work.

* * *

The crew had thrown a surprise birthday party for Lt. Ben Krieg's thirtieth birthday. Everyone was having a great time dancing, eating, and knowing they had pulled one over on the man who said he knew everything that happened on the ship. Krieg was amazed and somewhat humbled his crewmates had done all this for him. _Maybe I'm not such a screw up if they would do this for me. _He thought to himself. He glanced over at Lucas and saw his friend watching Aellai and the new Lt. Lonnie Henderson dancing wildly to the loud rock music. Lonnie had come aboard a few weeks ago and formed a quick friendship with Aellai. She was closer in age than any woman on the ship and everyone was happy they got along so well.

Lucas started to laugh as the gals started to do dance moves from the ages. First came the Charleston, followed by the Mashpotato, and then some disco moves. They just started something called "Moshing" when the song ended. Collapsing together into laughter, the women walked back to the table. Lucas' heart swelled when he looked at Aellai, it had been over a month since the girl stopped eating due to severe brain washing. They had beaten it, and Aellai had only grown stronger in body and magic.

Aellai brushed at her black hair, it had been a spiky style but now it was growing out and was a bit floppy. Since her forehead was covered in sweat it was sticking in a very annoying fashion. "I need a haircut" she muttered to Lucas. He reached over and smoothed it back from her dark eyes and she tried not to blush. Everyone at the table was looking at them but feeling nothing but love in their hearts for the teenagers.

Suddenly Dagwood broke the tension "When is Lucas' birthday?" He demanded in his gentle voice.

Lucas tried to pretend Dag hadn't startled him but he poked Aellai in the eye. She jumped back and laughed. "Oh! I'm sorry babe, are you ok?" Aellai blinked a few tears away and nodded sitting next to him. She rested her head on his shoulder as he turned back to Dagwood. "December 23, Dag. What about you?"

Dagwood paused before bowing his large multi-colored head. "Dagger prototype's have no birthdays." He reported sadly.

Tony Piccolo stopped eating and glanced at the other members at the table. "Maybe we'll have to do something about that." He said. Everyone nodded in agreement as Krieg chewed his lip.

"Aellai, when is your birthday?" The G.E.L.F. asked turning to her.

She hesitated. "I don't know Dag. I can't remember." Dagwood blinked as he tried to figure out how anyone could forget their birthday. It seemed impossible to the gentle giant that a person wouldn't know when to have this much fun.

The rest of the crew members tried not to cringe at his less than delicate question. Most everyone on board knew about Aellai's past and tried not to pry. Lucas tightened his arm around her and directed his scowl away from Dagwood. He knew it wasn't the G.E.L.F.'s fault but it frustrated him at the same time.

The music came to a stop and everyone clapped. "Speech! Speech! Speech!" People started to chant staring at Ben.

With a laugh he stood and thought for a moment. "Thank you everyone. You know, of course, I knew about this before most of you." The crew laughed knowing he was trying to save face and was blatantly lying. "I am truly touched that you did all this for me, but I don't think most of you know it is someone else's birthday today as well and I want to celebrate with him." Everyone looked around confused as they tried to fathom who it was. "Dag, can you stand up?" Dagwood started in surprise but soon his large frame was standing. "Dagwood, would you share my birthday?"

Dagwood blinked slowly trying to comprehend and a wide smile spread out on his face. "My birthday? Forever?" Ben nodded and the Dagger rushed him and picked him up in a hug. Everyone cheered and laughed as Ben tried to dislodge himself and get a breath in. A few people rubbed away tears as the large man set his new best friend down.

The crew scrambled to find a few presents for Dagwood as Lonnie distracted him with a dance. She was showing him a simple box step when people started walking back in with packages. Dagwood was overjoyed at the simple gifts, a new mop head, Darwin's favorite sponge (with the demand he had to come to play with the dolphin), sweets, and a new SeaQuest issue cap. People clapped the embarrassed Krieg on the back and started to say how kind he was. "I'm gonna lose my street cred" He muttered to himself.

A while later nearly everyone had eaten and danced their fill, Lucas was watching the Captain slow dancing with Dr. Kristin Westphalen. Although they looked very happy, Lucas tried to push down the trickle of annoyance he felt watching the older redheaded woman. Dr. Westphalen came aboard about the same time Lonnie did but for very different reasons. Dr. Smith had to leave to help with some problems arising from a very powerful new psychic at the Chatton Parapsychology Center. Dr. Kristin replaced her and struck up a romance with the Captain soon after. Lucas was happy the Captain had found someone after years of being alone, but didn't like the team the two of them made against him and Aellai. It seemed the both of them were forever after the teens to make sure they were eating and sleeping right. Dr. Kristin had even gone so far as to ask if them sharing quarters was proper_. At least Bridger backed us up on that one_, the boy mused.

Lucas sighed_. Another year we'll be adults and no one can tell us what to do _he thought to himself. He paused his thought as he looked at Aellai, _well I will be anyhow. _He started formulating a plan to find out when she would be too.

* * *

Lucas jumped from his memory lane and noticed the clock. It was about an hour later than he thought and he powered down his computers with frustration. Two weeks of searching and he found nothing on Aellai. No birth records, nothing on her parent's marriage or deaths. He knew that with the turmoil the country had gone through in the last twenty years, records were destroyed or never made in the first place, but he was shocked to find nothing concerning the girl before she was kidnapped. He crawled in bed resolving to ask Bridger for advice in the morning. Lucas had wanted to keep it a secret but he was sick of butting his head against a virtual wall.

The next morning Lucas slowly awoke as he heard Aellai getting up. He pretended to stay asleep to buy himself more time alone. His act was shaken, however, when she kissed his forehead and whispered, "My sweet prince." Fighting to stay still, he waited until he heard her rose quickly and pulled on a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt that didn't seem to scary and went to find the Captain in his quarters.

"Lucas!" Bridger exclaimed when he answered the knock on the door; he was surprised his young charge was up so early, concern showed on his handsome but weathered face. "Is something wrong?" He was worried that Lucas or Aellai had heard where the next shore leave was planned. Bridger wanted to tell them when they weren't surrounded by people to gage their reactions.

"Well, kind of. Can I come in? I need to talk." Bridger nodded, surprised again. The times Lucas willing talked about his problems or asked for help was very rare.

Lucas took a seat on the couch and Bridger leaned against the desk. "You see, at Ben's party, Dagwood asked Aellai when her birthday was. She said she didn't know. It… made me upset. I was so mad. They took so much away from her in the pits. I started to look on the 'nex for any information on her but before she was taken it's like a blank space. There are plenty of ads and news stories about her after she started winning her fights but that's all. I… I thought I could give her something make her feel normal, but I failed." The teen boy's face looked so sad Bridger had to stop himself from hugging him.

"You have to remember who was in charge of the country the whole time she was there, Lucas. President Lutiz had a hand in all the fighting and was able to destroy any records that made him and his buddies look bad. I still don't know how he escaped punishment. He's living in his mansion on a beach somewhere with all his money and no one will go after him. They're just satisfied with him being out of power. But honestly, I think he's in control of more than people think." Lucas nodded but didn't know what he could do about it on SeaQuest, and as long as Aellai was here, she was safe.

"You need to know something." Bridger said rubbing a hand through his salt and pepper hair before looking back at the boy. "Our next shore leave is in a month. We all have to be off the ship because they are working on the environmental controls and it's too dangerous for anyone to stay on. After we are off, I want you and Aellai to fly to New Cape Quest as soon as possible and stay there."

Lucas looked at him confused. "Why? Where are we getting the repairs?"

Bridger hesitated, "Panama. It's the only place that can do what we need."

Lucas looked at him in fear and shock, his prior annoyances pushed away. Panama. Where all this had started. Were Aellai was terrified of going.

* * *

For the next few hours, Captain Bridger and Lucas made plans to keep Aellai safe. Lucas knew the Captain was trying to keep him safe as well but didn't fight the extra procedures. They would both be heavily restricted at this shore leave. Normally any one protecting him and cramping his style would make Lucas want to run the other way but he knew this was for the best. They also came up with a plan to tell Aellai. Neither of them wanted her to find out from another crew member. Bridger called Dr. Westphalen into his quarters with a medkit.

"What's going on Nathan?" She asked looking at two of them. "Is someone hurt?"

"No, but we need you to sit in on a meeting with Aellai. You've read her file I trust?" Asked Bridger.

Kristen's face darkened. "Yes, I know all about the poor girl's past."

Bridger sighed and Lucas began to tense up knowing what was coming. "Do you know where our next shore leave is?" Kristen shook her head. "We have to go to Panama and no one can stay on the ship."

The doctor jerked in horror. "No, you can't. She can't go back there; her psyche is still very much scarred."

"I know, but we don't have a choice, Kristen. There's no way for her to stay on the ship and we need to dock there. She can't even take a minisub since they're being fixed well. I'm afraid hiring someone to bring out a shuttle may put her in even more danger. I already got plane tickets to fly her and Lucas to New Cape Quest but we need to tell her. If we wait much longer a crew member may let it slip. I want to be the one to tell her and I want you here with us in case something goes wrong." The doctor nodded looking defeated and saddened.

A few minutes after the Captain called Aellai on her PAL, she timidly knocked on his door. She was very surprised to see Lucas and Dr. Westphalen in the room as well. "Did I do something wrong?" She asked breathlessly.

"No, of course not honey. Please have a seat on the couch. We need to talk to you about something." Aellai obeyed and Lucas sat next to her taking her hand. Bridger crouched down to be at face level with the small teenager. He had a very difficult time putting this much of a burden on her narrow shoulders. "Did you know the whole crew has shore leave in about a month?"

She looked at him suspiciously. "Yes, I was hoping to go tour some areas with Lucas this time."

"You can, but not right away. After we dock I want you and Lucas on a plane out of the area. We have tickets to New Cape Quest already waiting for you." Aellai's eyes widened and then narrowed. She looked around at the Doctor and Lucas staring at her with pity on their faces. Anger flared inside of her, was she being shuffled off somewhere out of the way? Bridger took note of the change in her expression. "Please just let me finish this before you get upset. We are going to keep you safe at all times, but this just can't be helped. We need to dock in La Chorrera, Panama and everyone needs to get off the ship."

Aellai gasped and she felt Lucas' hand tighten on hers. Her world swam before her eyes as she tried to breathe. She dropped off the couch on all fours. Her lungs seemed to have shrunk as the air grew thicker around her. Shaking off the hands what tried to hold her, she curled in a ball. "No, not real. It's another nightmare. Wake up! WAKE UP!"

Bridger was horrified he had caused the girl this much pain. He looked pleadingly at Kristen. "Help her, please!"

The doctor was already a step ahead pulling a syringe from her bag. "I need to you to hold her arm out Lucas. This will calm her down." Lucas was frozen watching Aellai's torment; he heard the words but they didn't make any sense to him. Bridger grabbed the now moaning girl and forced her hand out. He hoped Kristen was fast enough to administer the drug before Aellai started using her magic on the three of them. Kristen expertly slid the needle in and pushed the plunger down as Aellai whimpered but didn't fight it. "Ok, that should go to work fast. I've given her a dose of alprazolam. If she doesn't fall asleep she will be very groggy, and… well… pliant. If need be, we can do this to get her on the plane as well." Kristen checked her breathing and pulse and was pleased to find both were slowing and regular. "Nathan? Could you please carry her to the medbay? I want keep an eye on her and give her another dose if necessary."

Lucas followed them out choking back sobs.

* * *

Samuel Lutiz couldn't stop laughing as he watched his computer screen. It was too perfect. He had been enraged when he found out he could now only see and hear from two cameras on the ship. Now this was perfect. He could see the stupid blonde kid crying about his girlfriend in the medbay and see the Captain stressing about her in his quarters. He had heard so many _wonderful_conversations. Now, he just had to make a few calls to ensure the two kids didn't miss out on visiting his beautiful country...

* * *

A week before the scheduled shore leave, Lucas found himself knocking on the Captain's door again asking for help. _I better not make a practice of this_, he wearily thought to himself. Bridger opened the door and after surveying the tired looking teen he invited him in. "How are you doing Lucas?"

"I'm ok, Aellai is sleeping again. She hates how the medication makes her feel but she understands she'll need it at least until this is over. At least she's sleeping better and she's happier in our room instead of medbay. ." Lucas knew the Captain was actually asking about Aellai rather than himself and didn't mind it.

"Is she still on bed rest?"

"Yeah, and she's still not happy about it. I think she's bored but with these meds it's hard to know just what she's feeling. I really miss working with her though, she made the work go faster. I just need to talk to you about a couple things if you have time. I finally got the security system to behave. I had to reroute around several systems but I don't think it'll be a problem again." Bridger kept silent knowing this was not what the youth wanted to talk to him about.

"So, anyway I was hoping we could do something for Aellai when we get to New Cape Quest. Remember when I said she had no birthday? I want to throw her a party and give her some identity back. I was hoping you would help me. I know most of the crew is going to be flying there with us after docking."

Bridger looked at Lucas with shock and pride. "That's a wonderful idea Lucas. I actually have something I want to share with you as well…."

* * *

Lucas walked back to his room shaking his head. He was having trouble believing what he had just heard from the Captain and couldn't be happier. Maybe they were all going to be ok after all. He quietly opened the door and stopped short when he saw Aellai sitting at his computer.

"Oh, hi." She said guiltily. "I know I'm not supposed to be working but I need something to do. I've been going over the work you did on the security system and it all looks good." Lucas tried to hide a smile. He knew he was guilty of sneaking in work when he was ordered not to and wasn't at all mad at her.

"You sound better." Her voice wasn't the gravely slow tone he had cringed at all week. She sounded like herself finally.

"Thanks, I think the Doctor finally got everything evened out. I'm still feeling a bit odd but much better. Kinda… floaty" She said laughing.

Lucas was happy to laugh with her; it had been a while since he heard that sound. "Are you packed?" He asked softly. He wasn't sure how she would react.

"Yeah, I guess. I mean don't have much to bring. A few changes of clothes, my lucky knife…" She grinned at him. Since the hijacking she carried the large survival knife in her boot whenever she could. Because it had played such an important part of them taking back the ship, she called it her lucky knife and took very good care of it.

"You know you'll have to check that, the airline won't let you carry it with you."

She nodded but looked far away. "What…. What's like to be on an airplane?"

Lucas cocked his head at her, he had never thought about this probably being her first flight. "Oh, not so bad. A bit like being a minisub I guess. You feel some turbulence sometimes but mostly you sit back and let someone drive. You'll probably be…." He bit his tongue realizing he nearly said something that would most likely upset her.

"Asleep? Are you planning to drug me that much? I should be safe on the plane shouldn't I?" She looked teasing but he could see the underlying fear.

Lucas kneeled at her feet and held her hands. "Look Aellai, I'm not going to lie to you. This whole thing is very dangerous for you, but you will be surrounded by the crew every step of the way. The UEO has promised extra transports and armed guards. They don't want to lose you either." Aellai tried to ignore the tears as Lucas took her in his arms.

* * *

Early in the AM a week later, 500 hours to be exact, Captain Bridger was awoken by this vid-screen beeping at him. "Really?" He grumbled exasperated. He had been up late putting the final touches on Aellai's surprise and had wanted to sleep a few more hours before the ship docked. He slapped the button and started looking for his coffee cup. "Bridger here" he said curtly.

"Nathan, I'm sorry to wake you but I just got some news." Admiral Noyce spoke from the screen sounding grave.

Bridger rubbed at his face and tried not to snap at his old friend. "What's going on Bill?"

"There's a problem at the airport you were all planning to fly from. It seems a jet caught on fire last night and exploded. No one was injured but the tarmac is destroyed. It will be days before anyone can land or take off from it."

Bridger was fully awake now. "Any sign of sabotage? That's very convenient timing." The night before, he had been told by his engineering crew that the oxygen scrubbers had started to fail and they had less than 24 hours of breathable air left. There was no going back under water. Even now the air started to taste stale and metallic.

Noyce sighed, "None that we're being told about. I have UEO crews on their way to investigate but who knows how close they'll even be allowed." Bridger nodded not really listening. He was already brainstorming how to keep his people safe in a country that may be very hostile to all of them. "Nathan?" Noyce broke through his thoughts. "Your other request, it's been approved. I'll have it sent with one of our crews now that you can't leave the country.

"Thanks Bill, I know it'll be welcome after all this." Bridger hit the link off and started to pack.

Three hours later he stood at the loading dock addressing his crew. "Now, you all know how I wanted this to happen. Seems lady luck or someone else is against us. Everyone needs to bring a PAL along, I'm sure you would all love to use the mini-links," he paused to beam at Lucas and Aellai for their amazing invention together. "But they won't work outside of the ship. No one is allowed to go anywhere alone. Whenever possible use groups of three or more, but never alone. Even though you are all on leave, that is an order I expect all of you to follow. The UEO has made arrangements for us to use a hotel very close to here and we have the whole floor to ourselves. I'm told the hotel prides itself on the safety of their guests but I don't what any of you to let your guard down."

"Ford, O'Neill, Dagwood, and Piccolo, you are in the first party with Lucas and Aellai. Kristin, Crocker, Krieg, Henderson, and myself will be right behind you. Get in the transports and go straight to the hotel everyone. With some luck we'll be able to get out of this country with no problems, but honestly, we can most likely expect some."

The crew ventured out of the ship. Aellai was heavily disguised as a male G.E.L.F and was wearing several layers of clothes to bulk her up. Lonnie had helped her with her make up so well Dagwood was having a hard time not staring at the girl. Lucas forced himself to walk several feet behind her, he too was disguised with extra shirts and his hair jammed into a cap. They were both very uncomfortable in the sudden heat and hurried for the relative safety and cool of the waiting transports. Aellai would have loved to use magic to hide who they were but because of an extra dose of alprazolam, could only concentrate on walking. Even with the extra meds in her system her breaths were coming short and fast.

The senior crew members all had side arms unlocked but holstered. Many hands fidgeted above the weapons as they tried to watch everyone and everything at once. They all got into the cars after Commander Ford checked the driver's ID carefully and they set out. Within minutes they were at the hotel and hurried up to the elevators. People stopped and stared at the large group of military people marching through but none stopped to ask questions. On the top floor, they met with the hotel manager who handed out the keys without a word. He had been warned to not ask questions and the hotel was well paid for the bother.

Lucas and Aellai stepped into the suite with Dagwood, O'Neill, Krieg, and Piccolo. They gratefully stripped off the extra layers and went into the room they would sharing together to unpack. The suite had two floors with five rooms holding one bed each. There was a sizable kitchen and even a large balcony. Everyone surveyed the large suite with obvious pleasure. It had been decorated with very elegant and simple items. Sunset beach pictures on the wall with drift wood carvings on shelves. Even the carpet was a sandy brown. Everywhere people looked, they were reminded of the ocean. It seemed the UEO wanted them to be as comfortable as possible while protecting the teenagers.

Bridger and Dr. Westphalen walked in together with Commander Ford trailing behind a few minutes after everyone started to get comfortable. "Ok, here is the plan," The Captain began. "One person will be on guard and awake at all times on a rotating schedule. Lucas and Aellai, you will NOT be leaving this suite unless I have specifically said so. All our food will be delivered and we will cook it ourselves to insure it hasn't been tampered with. There is one door in and out," He pointed the way they all came in. "So that won't be as difficult to defend. I want everyone to be alert. If something odd happens, I want to hear about it. Don't think you are being jumpy or stupid or anything else you could say to yourselves. Tell me, or tell Jonathan. Everyone understand?" The crew nodded their agreement and understanding. "OK," the Captain smiled. "We're in a beautiful suite in a beautiful area; try to enjoy yourselves while we have to be here."

Aellai glumly walked in bedroom and Lucas followed her. "All this, it's crazy. I don't know why they're all bothering." She sat on the bed and stared at the floor.

"What can I say to you to make you believe they are doing it because they love you and want to protect you?" He asked sitting next to her.

"Probably the same thing you'd have to hear to believe the same thing." She smirked at him. Lucas opened his mouth to argue and could find no words. It certainly came as surprise to him that she knew so much about his inner thoughts. "I'm going to take a shower. I think I'm confusing Dagwood." She stood and kissed him on the nose. "Then I'm taking a nap. These meds make me so tired." She wandered away to find one of the bathrooms leaving Lucas alone with his thoughts.

After he was sure she was sleeping, Lucas went to find Bridger. "I still want to throw the party." He told the Captain. To his surprise, Bridger agreed.

"I thought you would. I know it isn't the best place or timing but it's important. And I have my gift for her. One of the guards delivered it ten minutes ago. I'll start getting everything together; it should be easy to set up."

Lucas looked at him. "I think what you're doing is amazing, sir. It'll make her so happy. You're not going to like this but I need to go out and get something. I'll take whomever you want but I need to get something."

"I have a few things to get too, I'll come with. Dagwood, Piccolo, you're both with us. Lucas, you better disguise yourself again."

After making arrangements with the rest of the crew, the four of the set out. Asking a few questions of the manager they found a large shopping area easily. None of them knew that two of the many people walking through the shopping area was following and watching them carefully.

Jules Sanchez pulled out his phone and called his boss. "We saw a few of them shopping. They have the boy pretty well protected. I suggest going ahead with the plan sir. We'll get him alone soon enough."

The men returned from their shopping trip and found the suite almost full. All of the senior crew members along with most of the science team were there being very quiet. There were gifts piled in a corner and there was food was being cooked in the kitchen by Kristin and Lonnie. The scene was a bit eerie in silence but everyone knew the importance of not speaking. Bridger gave Lucas a pointed look and the teen walking into the nearest bedroom to find Aellai still sleeping peacefully.

"Hun?" He asked quietly, she murmured in annoyance. "Come on, it's time to eat. If you don't get up I'll send Kristen in after you. I think I'll be nicer. She'll probably pull you out by the feet!" Aellai couldn't help but giggle and pulled herself up.

She was finally feeling normal, all the medication had leveled out and she could think better. She reached for the glass of water near the bed and tried to straighten her hair with one hand. After her cotton mouth was cleared she followed Lucas to the doorway. To her confusion, he stopped and looked at her. "Just remember, we love you." She blinked in confusion and he opened the door.

On the other side were thirty or more people shouting "SURPRISE!" Aellai jumped back in shock. There were streamers attached to the ceiling and a banner stating "Happy Birthday!" against a wall.

"What the f….?" She stopped herself short.

Lucas was looking at her nervously. "We wanted to give you a birthday you'd always remember. We didn't plan to do it here, but…." He trailed off.

"Oh, Lucas… Thank you! You're amazing." She looked at everyone gathered. "Thank you, all of you. I will always remember this!"

Captain Bridger pushed to the front of the group and started to pull out some papers. "No, no Captain, you promised!" Lonnie came running forward carrying a large bag. "You said I got her first!" Everyone started laughing and Lonnie grabbed Aellai's arm to pull her back into the room locking everyone outside.

"What…?" She started to protest, but Lonnie opened the bag and pulled out a beautiful dark grey dress out.

"Come on, let's show them how you look out of your uniform!" Lonnie helped her put the knee length fitted dress on and made her sit as she did her make up. Lastly she handed Aellai a pair of nylons and a pair of black shiny two inch dress shoes.

Aellai could only shake her head in bemusement. But when she saw herself in the full length mirror her amazement grew. The dress hugged what curves she had and a low scoop line neck showed her collarbone. Lonnie's make up covered the scars on her face and the dark eye shadow with silver edging made her dark eyes look huge and glowing. "Oh… I'm so… pretty." She said shocked.

"Are you ready to wow him… I mean them?" Lonnie asked with a smile full of mischief. Aellai blushed but laughed and Lonnie opened the door.

There were gasps from everyone in the room with the exception of Lucas. His mouth was fully open and he couldn't breathe. It looked like a completely different girl walked out of the room. When she turned to find him in the crowd he blushed so red he could have hidden in his red flannel shirt. Her large dark eyes saw his response and she smiled. The dark lipstick Lonnie had applied made her simple smile look sensual and Lucas found himself further lost.

Bridger cleared his throat. "OK, if everyone is ready?" He looked pointedly at the shocked teenage boy to his right. "Lonnie demanded you have a proper party outfit and now it's my turn." He pulled out a few sheets of paper and crossed to Aellai. "I'm sure you figured out this was all Lucas' idea. He wants you have a real birthday, and I wanted it to be official." Aellai looked at him quizzically. She was shocked to see tears in the older man's grey-blue eyes. He stumbled over his next words, "There… are two versions. You, um, can pick which one you want. The UEO is waiting for me to tell them which one to make official." He handed her the papers hurriedly.

Aellai gazed at the official looking documents not understanding. The words didn't make much sense but she did see the punched seal in the corner. The top sheet simply said _Aellai_ with a space and _born 2003 November 12th_ with many blank spaces below it. She realized it was a birth certificate. "Read the next one" whispered the Captain. After tearing her eyes away from the document she read another sheet. It looked the same with some added information. After her first name it clearly said _Bridger_, and the space marked father said _Captain Nathan Hale Bridger_. "If you'll have me." The Captain said very quietly.

Aellai swallowed a sob and threw herself into his arms. "Of course. Thank you, oh my god thank you… Dad."

The rest of the crew gave them room but Lucas watched them closely feeling very happy for them if a little left out. He was surprised at his own sense of longing. Bridger saw his face over Aellai's shoulder and motioned for him to join them. The three held each other for a few long minutes until Tony cleared his throat. "Um we _do_ have more presents you know." Aellai laughed and broke away from the two most important men in her life.

She sat on a couch with Lucas sitting next her and grinned. "You may proceed." She told them with the air of royalty.

"Sheesh, she's your kid for five whole minutes and she's ordering us around. This is gonna be a pain!" Tony quipped. The room laughed and started to bring her their gifts.

From Dagwood, she received a dried red rose sprayed in a glitter, standing in a clear vase with blue rocks looking like water. "I wanted to get flowers but they die, it doesn't die." He said proudly.

"I love it, it's very beautiful Dag." She said gazing at the flower. "Thank you big guy." Dagwood smiled hugely and stepped back.

Dr. Westphalen came up with a small narrow box. "This is from most of the senior crew." Inside was a delicate gold watch. The face was treated to hold water and had a small dolphin floating around the numbers. Aellai turned tilted it back and forth looking amazed at it. "Turn it over." The doctor suggested. Aellai flipped it and saw an inscription. "From your family on your first birthday."

She hadn't even known she began to cry until Lonnie handed her a tissue. "Thank you," she murmured. Aellai dabbed at her eyes the way she'd seen women in movies do when they had make up on. To her surprise nothing came off on the tissue.

Lonnie grinned. "All water proof, I had a feeling you'd need it." Aellai nodded her thanks.

"Ok, if you're all done making her cry it's my turn!" Demanded Tony rolling his eyes. Aellai laughed and took his envelope. Inside was a gift certificate to a barber shop, Aellai cocked her head at him questioningly. "You keep grumbling about needing a haircut, one of my cousins owns this place near New Cape Quest and sent it to me." He saw Aellai worriedly glancing at his own short cropped hair. "He doesn't do mine, don't worry!" Everyone started to laugh again and even Tony had to join in.

Lt. Ben Krieg handed her another box. "I thought you could use this. Everyone can see what you carry, you know." Aellai looked bewildered but opened the box. Inside there was soft, black leather knife sheath with a metal tip. "It's made to be hidden in an army boot, no can see it when it's in properly. And it's lined on the inside with Kevlar so it won't ever cut through."

"Wow!" She said, "That's really cool, thanks Ben!" Krieg smiled flushing but nodded.

"And from Darwin," Lucas said pulling a brightly wrapped box from beside the couch. "He wanted to see you open it but he said he'd wait for you to say thank you." She smiled at the thought of the dolphin impatiently waiting for her response.

Pulling the lid off, she saw a large shining conch shell. The inside was sky blue instead of the normal pink. "Oh, wow. It's… gorgeous!" Aellai fumbled for words as she tried to place the clear blue that seemed so familiar to her. Looking into Lucas' eyes she saw the match. The teens both blushed as they realized what color Darwin had found.

"Ok everyone! Time to eat!" Lonnie said jumping up. Everyone walked to the very full tables to find a teenager's feast. Burgers, pizza, chips, and soda covered one table with cookies and cake on the other.

"Oh, boy I'm going to feel this in the morning" Grumbled the Captain jokingly.

After loading up their plates, Aellai and Lucas sat with Captain Bridger and Dr. Westphalen. "You know," Lucas started with a wry grin on his face, "I'm officially almost a year older than you now. So I'm wiser and you should listen to me more. "

Aellai risked choking to snort. "Yeah but everyone knows girls mature faster than boys, and most boys stop aging mentally at around age twelve anyhow." She stuck out her tongue to show him how much mature she was. The two adults laughed as Lucas gave her a fake scowl.

After dinner most people were talking quietly and nibbling on cake or cookies. Aellai looked at Bridger, "Can I ask why you did it? I'm incredibly happy you did, but why?"

Bridger shifted and seemed a little uncomfortable. "Well, I know you needed some security in your life. This crew can provide some of that but I wanted you to have more. And I care about you very much Aellai. I care about both of you." He said looking at Lucas.

Lucas blushed and to get the attention off of himself asked in a dry tone, "So is she getting a step-mom too?" Bridger turned deep red and glared at the boy. Dr. Westphalen was highly amused at the cheeky question and laughed alongside Aellai.

The crew started to drift away in three's and four's following orders until only the people staying in the suite remained. Aellai yawned hugely. "You two better get to bed. I know it's been an emotional day." Kristin advised. The youth's didn't argue and walked to the bedroom together under the doctor's watchful eye. "I better go see about becoming a step-mom" She laughed to herself before going into Bridger's room.

Lucas made a pit stop in the bathroom and brought a damp cloth into the bedroom. He sat Aellai down on the bed and began wiping the makeup off her face. "Didn't you like it?" She asked.

He nodded and grinned sheepishly. "I did… a lot. But I want to see you." He helped her change into a set of pajamas and sat on the bed next to her. "Now you look like my girl. I have one more present for you."

"Lucas you threw an amazing party, why would I need more from you?"

"Just let me give you this." He pulled a small square jewelry box from his pocket and Aellai's eyes went wide. She physically started to back up. As much as she cared for Lucas, she was not ready for anything like this! "No, it isn't what you think… at least not really." He said cryptically.

He handed her the box and she opened it. Inside there was a ring but it was like no other ring she had seen. It had a thin golden band ending in hands and they seemed to be holding something. "It's a claddagh ring," he explained. "It's an old Irish tradition. The hands mean friendship," He pointed them out, "the heart means love, and the crown on top means loyalty." He took a deep breath. "If you wear it with the heart towards you, it means you are taken, pointed away means you aren't. It's… kinda like a promise ring but… not so lame I guess." He looked at her searchingly.

Aellai said nothing but took the ring from his hands and slid it on her middle finger with the heart pointing in. Lucas let out a sigh of relief but stopped when he saw Aellai smirking at him. "What?" he said sounding a bit hurt.

"I guess I didn't know _Wolenczak _was an Irish name…"

He could see the teasing smirk on her face and relaxed again. "Yeah, well. I got the idea from an old show O'Neill made me watch a year ago. I don't really remember much about it. Something about a vampire who was good or had a soul or whatever. That guy is such a nerd! But I did like the girl in it. You remind me of her; she was small but could kick some major butt. And she did it all the time without asking for help from anyone."

* * *

Simon Lutiz was annoyed but intrigued. He wasn't able to check up on the SeaQuest since a little before they had docked. He knew where the crew was staying but couldn't find anyone to bribe to get information. This was a very new experience for the tall, half German man. Scratching at his dark blonde hair he tried to figure out what to do next.

* * *

Lucas awoke early the next morning and couldn't help smiling at Aellai's sleeping form. She had left his ring on as well as her new watch. Letting his eyes stray farther see noted her new birth certificate next to the bed on a night stand. Her hand was resting on top of it. He carefully pulled himself free of her and slipped from the room. Lucas saw Tony Piccolo and Dagwood sitting out on the balcony talking, no one else was around.

"Hey guys." He said opening the sliding glass doors and blinking in the bright sun. "Where is everyone?"

Tony glanced over his shoulder. "I think O'Neill and Krieg are still sleeping upstairs, they had the night shift. Cap and the Doc went down to the ship. Ford went with them. I think there's an issue with some of the repairs. But they got good news before they left." He grinned at Lucas, "The airport should be up and running by tomorrow. We can all get out of this tropical paradise finally."

"Oh, that's great. I can't wait to tell Aellai!" The youth exclaimed. He noticed Dagwood was staring down at the pool some floors below. "What wrong Dag, don't you want to leave?"

Dagwood sighed and Tony spoke up. "He wants to go swimming in the pool. Said he's never been a pool before. I tried to tell him it wasn't a good idea… We… might not to be able to find swim trunks his size."

Lucas gave Tony a quizzical look and saw the man's concerned expression. It was still a beat before he understood. Most people stopped and stared at the G.E.L.F. when only his multicolored head and large hands were exposed. If he were to be half naked a panic may ensue. And one thing the crew did not need was attention in this country. "Hey, Dag, when we get back to the base I'll take you swimming with me and Aellai, Ok?" Dagwood nodded but still wouldn't look up. Lucas wondered just how much the simple man knew about people's reactions. "Well, I'm going to take a shower while Aellai is sleeping." He winced at the already hot day. "Maybe a cold shower…"

Tony snorted, "Things not go good last night? Why do you need a cold shower?" Lucas gave him a dirty look and walked back into the suite.

He was about to duck into the bathroom when Lucas heard a knock at the door. He quietly snuck up to it and peered through the peephole. An older Hispanic man in a hotel uniform and few grocery bags waited on the other side looking bored. "Yes?" He directed through the door.

"Senor, I have your food delivery you ordered here. I just need you to sign for it." Lucas looked to the right and left of the door as far as he could. He couldn't see any other people so he unlocked the door and pulled it open. Lucas reached out his hand to take the paperwork but was shocked to find both arms grabbed and he was pulled out of the room. As the door closed behind him, he could still see Piccolo and Dagwood talking on the balcony not knowing anything was wrong.

Lucas began to struggle and opened his mouth to yell when a large hand clapped over his mouth. His hands were quickly tied behind his back and a blindfold was placed over his eyes. The large hand moved and a piece of duct tape soon covered his mouth. "Please believe me Mr. Wolenczak; we don't want to hurt you. We do, however need to get you out of this hotel without your crew seeing us. Please don't try to escape and you will be safe. But if you force our hand we will do what we have to."

Lucas' breath was coming hard and fast as he continued to struggle. _No damn way am I letting them take me without a fight!_ He tried to scream from behind the tape but only a few moans came out. "Ok." He heard the older man say. There was a sharp blow to his temple and he only saw stars. He slumped to the floor. Fading in and out of consciousness he felt himself being lifting and set into a soft container. Something was tossed on top of him as he groped around trying to get his bearings. He could feel a two inch hard slat against a rough fabric, _a laundry cart_? He had the time to muse before the blow to his head and the lack of oxygen caused him to black out fully.

The two men walked the cart down the hall with the older man leading. "Well, that could have gone better." He muttered. He really didn't want to hurt the boy, he just had to have him where they could talk and he could convince the boy to do what he needed.

* * *

Less than a half hour later Aellai woke up blinking in the sunshine. "Wow, I can't believe I slept so late! Last night must have taken more out of me than I thought." She lovingly looked at her ring and watch, saving her last lingering gaze for her new birth certificate. "I wonder where Lucas went to; it's pretty bad when he gets up before me!" She said laughing to herself. She pulled on a pair of jeans and walked out of the room and saw the men on the balcony. Tony appeared to be asleep in his chair while Dagwood stared over the edge at something on the ground.

Aellai was crossing to the kitchen when an envelope shot under the door. "Hm, must be the bill or a message for the Captain." She reached for it and flipping it, saw her name written on the flap. "What?" She tore open the paper and shook a note out on to her hand. _Come to 639 Cruz ave before noon today. Come alone. _Baffled, she looked in the envelope again. There was another piece of paper; it was a grainy and poorly printed picture of Lucas tied hand and foot in what looked to be a van. She could see an angry welt across his head and there was a knife tip pushing his head up by the chin. His eyes looked livid but terrified.

Aellai checked to see if anyone had seen or heard her. There was no one around. She ran into the bedroom and shut the door gasping for breath. Tossing the papers on the bed she pulled on her pair of boots. She slid her knife and new sheath into one boot and was momentarily very pleased to see no one could see it from the outside. After digging out some money from her bag she picked up one of the PAL's. She tucked in one of Lucas' flannel shirts and put it on. She peeked out the door and saw nothing had changed in the two minutes she was gone. Grabbing the piece of paper with the address, she walked to the door and shimmered into invisibility.

After checking outside she opened the door and slipped out. She was running down the hallway to the stairs when Lonnie suddenly opened her door and walked out. Aellai had to skid to a stop to avoid smashing into her friend. She held her breath and watched Lonnie pause to look around. "Hello?" The Lieutenant asked looking right through Aellai. She paused thinking for a moment and then started down the hall to the suite.

Aellai felt bad that she was deceiving so many people, but right now all she could think about was saving Lucas. She ran down the six flights of stairs breathing heavily, after reaching the lobby she frantically searched for a back exit away from all the people milling around. She found one and dove through to find herself in an alley. Running around the building she stopped before a busy street. Aellai stopped her magic and ran out hailing a cab. Within seconds one pulled over and she jumped in.

"639 Cruz ave, please!" She said slouching down in the back seat. The cab driver raised an eyebrow at her antics but took off. The drive only took fifteen minutes and Aellai was immensely relieved to see it was only eleven o'clock.

They pulled up to a very old building made of stone and mortar. It had a ten foot fence around it and a high tech looking gate in front. Aellai was amazed and confused by the size_. How can they think to hide someone here?_ She asked herself. _Tourists must come here every day! _In fact, even from the backseat of the car, she saw a plaque that said El Monasterio De San Miguel, open to visitors daily from 10 am until 7 pm. She forced herself out of the car and threw all the money she had to the driver.

Aellai walked to the gate and saw it was tightly locked, a small box with a speaker and a buzzer button sat to the side. She also saw several cameras in the ancient courtyard, including one pointed at her. She pushed the button and a lightly accented voice came back promptly. "Thank you for coming so quickly Miss Aellai, please follow instructions. Two of my men will be down to open the gate; you will come inside with them and allow them to search you. They will bring you to me and your dear Lucas. As I'm sure you have seen, there are cameras everywhere. I will be watching your progress. If at any time, you decide to fight my men or vanish, Lucas will pay the price. I look forward to meeting you."

Aellai already saw the two burly Hispanic men coming out the door towards her. She swallowed her fear and tried to ignore them as they opened the gate. She did as directed and followed them into the large thick wooden doors. "We need to search you miss." One of the men told her in a heavier accent. She nodded and leaned against the stone wall with her feet spread. She couldn't help but shiver when the man professionally ran his hands down her body. He didn't touch her more than strictly necessary was soon done. He confiscated and turned off her PAL but didn't notice the knife. "This way please, miss."

She fell in step behind him and the other man followed. The long hallway was decorated with rich tapestries depicting life hundreds of years ago and biblical events. There was a thread bare but brightly colored carpet running the length of the building muffling their footsteps. Every ten feet or so there was a doorway closed to them. There were also gilded gold chairs with red velvet seats in niches. The leading man stopped at one of the doors. He knocked and she heard the voice from the intercom. "Enter."

He opened the door and led Aellai inside; the other man stayed behind and closed the door behind them. The room they entered was made of the same rough rock but had no decorations instead, there were several desks holding old looking computer equipment. The middle of the room is what drew Aellai's complete attention however. Lucas was seated in one of the gilded chairs, his arms tied to the rests and his legs to the chair legs. A small older Hispanic man stood behind him with his arm casually draped around Lucas' collar bone. But there was nothing casual about the large knife he held to Lucas' throat.

* * *

Lonnie Henderson stood outside the suite door chewing her lip. She was almost certain she had heard someone running down the hallway but had seen no one. _I'm going to get her in trouble_ she thought to herself and with a groan knocked on the door. Dagwood opened the door with a shy smile. "Hi Lonnie, did you sleep good?"

"Yes, thank you Dag. Listen, is Aellai or Lucas here?"

The Dagger slowly turned, "Lucas is in the shower, and I think Aellai is sleeping still."

Lonnie walked to the bathroom and saw the door open and the light out. Fearing the worst she walked to the bedroom the teens were sharing. It was empty as well. She noticed the envelope on the bed and picked it up. The picture of Lucas fluttered out and she shrieked.

Ben Krieg and Tim O'Neill ran down the stairs to the lower part of the suite when they heard the commotion. Arriving they saw Tony on his PAL trying to contact someone. "What happened?" Demanded Krieg. Lonnie wordlessly passed him the picture she found. "Aellai?"

"She's gone, I thought I heard someone run past me a few minutes ago and I came in to check on them. Tony is trying to call Bridger right now."

Krieg looked down at the picture and tried to fight the wrath and frustration he was feeling. They had done so much to keep the two of them safe and it wasn't enough. He was still staring at the picture trying to pick out some clues when Captain Bridger rushed into the room.

"What's going on?" He demanded with Kristin on his heels. "We were just getting back to the hotel when you called."

Ben stood and handed him the picture. "Aellai is missing too." Bridger looked at the image in shock. "I've been trying to get anything out of it but he could be anywhere. It just looks like a van or truck. We waited for you to call the police."

The Captain rubbed his face looking defeated. Aellai had been his daughter for less than a day and she was already in mortal danger. Some father he was. "No" He croaked. "The police around here won't help us. That's why we were down by SeaQuest. We were being hassled about our permits and now they say we can't leave the country."


	5. Homecoming part 2

Aellai gave the older man a fierce look trying to intimidate him. He was about forty years old and small in stature. His black hair was cropped close like a military haircut. The thing that unsettled Aellai was his eyes; they were looking back her with pleading and a little fear. She slowly approached Lucas while keeping a close eye on the man. "Are you ok? Have they hurt you?"

Lucas shook his head. "I'm fine, they roughed me up a little but I'll live."

Aellai nodded, "Ok, what do you want with us?"

The man sighed and stepped away from Lucas. "Honestly we need your help. My name is Gil Nicodemo Ibanez. I am the leader of a group of people trying to get rid of Simon Lutiz and give the government back to the people." Aellai blinked in shock and Lucas echoed her reaction. This was like nothing they had thought they were about to hear. "Jules, please." He gestured to the guard. The man came forward and swiftly cut Lucas' ropes. The boy stood rubbing his wrists and went to Aellai. She clutched his hand but stayed silent.

"You know what he did to the people here, he had them killed on whims, threw their children into the pits. He's a mad man and he still has people working for him. He's the one that blew up the airplane so you couldn't leave. He'll stop at nothing to get to you and kill you. He blames you and your crew for removing him from power, which is actually true to be honest."

"How do we know you don't work for him? This could be some trick of his." Lucas said coldly.

Ibanez nodded and turned on one of the computer monitors. "We have video footage of some of things he's done since his removal. If anything he's gotten worse, more desperate."

"So… you want me to fight for you I take it?" Aellai said suspiciously.

Ibanez looked shocked, "No, not fight. I want you to lead us! You don't know how people in the country view you. They think you are dead but if you were to show up supporting us, people wouldn't be afraid."

"Why don't you tell this to the UEO?" Asked Lucas gravitating to the computers. He wanted to look at all the footage and decide if they were faked.

"We've tried. They see us as fringe group because they don't believe our numbers are actually what they are. You see people won't publicly support us. They do give us as many supplies as they can spare and they give us information on Lutiz's movements and any visiting politicians." He looked a little guilty. "Most of the employees in the hotel are working for us. They've been spying on you and trying to protect you the whole time you were there. That's how we knew we had to get you out. He's planning something and it's safest for you and your crew if you are hidden here."

"Lucas," He turned to the boy on the computer. "I was hoping you could take the videos and create something we can show the UEO and our citizens. Show the children Lutiz has hurt, show Aellai helping us, show them that we can fight and win! I know our equipment isn't the best but it should be enough. And please, if you doubt me, feel free to find your own files and documentation."

"I think Lucas and I need to discuss this in private before we decide to help or not." Aellai said uncertainly.

"Of course, this will be your room. It's a little small but it's the best we can do. You'll be safe here, the walls are over two feet thick."

Ibanez showed them to a door and they entered the room. "Well, what do you think?" Lucas asked.

"I… just don't know. This is just not like anything I expected to deal with. I mean, cracking heads I can deal with but… this…." She sat on the bed and buried her face in her hands. "I don't know if we can trust them, but I don't know what they'll do if we refuse. And I also don't know how much good I can do if I _do_ help them."

"I say we help them for now, maybe I can get a signal out to the Captain or the UEO on one of those dinosaurs of a computer." Aellai smiled for the first time since she saw his picture and agreed.

They walked out the door and Aellai looked into Ibanez's eyes, "Ok, we'll do it. But I want something from you. I'm sure my fa… our Captain is looking for us." She realized naming Bridger as her father may put them in more danger and stopped herself. "I want to contact him. You have my PAL, we can stop the locator from sending out while we use it."

Ibanez thought about it and nodded. "Ok, just don't tell them too much. And after you contact him, I want to show you something important. You need to know just what you mean to these people."

Lucas and Aellai started reprograming the PAL; they wanted to be honest as possible with these people to stay safe. If they told their captors the crew wouldn't know where they were and then had them show up, they would be in trouble. "Ok, it's ready." Lucas said after a few minutes. He handed it to Aellai, "You should do the honors, there's less of a chance of him yelling at you."

Aellai took the device and glanced at Ibanez for the ok. The man nodded his assent, and she punched in the code. "Captain? Are you there?"

Bridger's voice came back almost immediately. "Aellai?! Is that you? Are you ok? Is Lucas with you?"

"Yes, I'm fine, we both are. We are with… some people. We had to turn our locators off so don't bother pinging us. They have promised not to hurt us if we work with them. And we've decided to help them. Please don't worry."

Bridger seemed to hesitate. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Please tell everyone to stay calm and that we miss them."

There was a forced laugh on the other end. "Darwin keeps asking about you. He wants to play football."

Aellai laughed back, "Yeah, we barely won last time. He was a little rough on Lucas but I think he's sorry. Tell him hi and that we'll be there soon. I'll talk to you when I can, Captain."

"Be careful Aellai." There was a beep as Aellai turned off her PAL and she gave a meaningful look to Lucas.

"What did you want to show me?" She asked Ibanez.

* * *

At the hotel, the crew listened with their hearts in their throats as Bridger signed off. "What was all that?" Asked Tony thinking his young friends may have lost their hold on sanity.

"It's a code, a very simple but effective one. Lucas and Aellai made it up after the hijacking. The person that can speak freely asks about Darwin and the other talks about the last football game. If he won, they are being forced to lie and if the human won, they are being truthful. The higher the difference in score is how much danger they feel they are in and Darwin injuring them is related to their state." He informed them proudly.

Ben Krieg couldn't help smiling at the ingenious code and felt relief that his two young friends may be ok after all.

* * *

"If you would start your work young man, this may take us some time." Ibanez picked up one of his own radios and looked at Jules. "I will report in every fifteen minutes. If I don't, you know what to do." He walked to the door and motioned for Aellai to follow him.

As they walked she tried to figure out a plan. She still had her knife and if need be she could force Ibanez to call his guard while she got the crew here. She didn't notice they were going deeper into the monastery until the temperature dipped. She looked around and saw they were underground. There were no windows and the walls seemed damp.

They stopped at a door and Ibanez unlocked it before ushering her in. Her heart jumped and she tried to back out gasping for breath. "Why did you do this? What is this place?!" Everywhere around her there were pictures of the specials from the pits. Kids she had fought against, trained with, and seen die were staring back at her.

"Please, just take a moment and see what we have done here." Ibanez implored looking very worried.

Aellai forced herself to continue breathing did as he asked. Now that she was looking at the pictures closer she saw it wasn't what she thought. Most of the pictures had typed pages next to them detailing the fighters. Some had pictures of them older, most were recent. She saw more than one with a spouse and a laughing baby. There were several with death dates and explanations of their last fight. She saw books in a few areas where people had written stories and goodbyes to the dead children. She turned questioningly to Ibanez.

"We don't want people to ever forget, no matter who is in power. We actually started putting this together before you escaped to show people what was happening but we had to be very careful. This is not the most important room though."

He led her to another door and paused to speak into his radio. "We're good, I'm bringing her into the second room now." He put his radio away and spoke again. "This is what you are to my people,"

Ibanez opened the door and Aellai gasped in shock. Her face was here. It was everywhere. Her at several different ages, her winning fights, her standing on the edge of the fighting arena with a defiant look on her face. The books she had seen in the other room where here too, but many more. Stepping to one she opened it. It was full of thanks and sad farewells. "I don't understand." She whispered.

After you disappeared, people starting bringing everything they had about you. Pictures they got from fliers, that they had taken themselves. Towels used to wipe away your blood," He pointed one out. "Your bandages, your chains. Everything people had, they brought here."

Aellai was unable to speak as she looked at everything. "And now, I have one more thing for you." He took her hand and led her to a corner behind a banner with her face. A man was asleep on a cot. "He won't leave, you see. He lives here and tends all of this."

Aellai approached the sleeping man and looked at his face. It was her old friend Randy whom had saved her from dying when she was only twelve. Her startled yelp woke the man and he blinked at her confused. "I'm still dreaming." He rolled over again.

"No, Randy, I'm here." She took his hand and he jerked away sitting up.

"No! I don't deserve this. I don't believe you'd come to me. After what I did to you!"

Aellai was frightened and confused she looked at Ibanez for clarification. He shook his head. "He considers this his punishment. We keep telling him you are alive and safe but he won't believe us."

"Randy, please look at me." She knelt in front of the man.

He carefully looked at her and reached out a shaky hand to touch her face. "You're real? You aren't dead?" Aellai shook her head trying not to cry. "I'm so sorry, you can't know how sorry I am. I betrayed you when you trusted me."

"No, you helped me. I fought for you, I won for you. I know they made you do it, I understand. I forgave you long ago."

Randy held a hand over his mouth, "No, you don't know all of it. Aellai… I'm a psychic. A very strong one. Your… your master made me… he took Rebecka, said he'd kill her if I didn't help." He collapsed in sobs again. It took him several minutes to recover and Aellai was aware of Ibanez checking in again. "I made you stop eating… how did you beat it? You weren't supposed to beat it."

Aellai flew away from him. "WHAT?! What do you mean? That was you? I almost died." She knew she was screaming but didn't care.

Randy was sobbing again. "They had my Rebecka, she was only seven. Please. Please forgive me."

She was disgusted and had to walk away from him. Ibanez watched in horror. He had no idea the pitiful man they had found was hiding this magnitude of a secret.

Randy was now on the floor crawling to her feet whispering "Please…. Please…. Please…"

Her heart was broken, but so was this man she saw. He gave her his strength a child and even though he had given her a curse, she knew she owed him. Aellai kneeled, "I… don't think I can right now. But some day I will forgive you Randy." She turned to Ibanez. "Can we leave please?"

He Hispanic man nodded and led her away as Randy sobbed into the floor. She was still shaking as they reached the door upstairs. "I'm sorry Aellai. I didn't know he done something else to you. He just said he made you fight again. Can I ask what happened?"

"Later" She muttered suddenly tired. Ibanez unlocked the door and they walked inside. She saw Lucas stand and blanch at the look on her face. "Just go back to work." She snapped before striding into the small bedroom and slamming the door.

* * *

"What do you mean we have no one on the inside?" Screamed Lutiz at the shaking man in front of him. "How? Start taking their kids, their friend's kids! Hell! Take their damn dogs!"

"I'm… I'm sorry sir. Every time we make a move they disappear. We are no closer to finding the teens than before. There is something going on and even with all our spies, we can't get any information from people."

"Well, then" Lutiz said trying to calm himself. "Maybe we'll have to take it out on the crew until our little bunnies pop up, hm?"

* * *

Aellai sat on the bed staring out the small window, she had been for a few hours and now the sun was setting on the beach. She felt bad about snarling at Lucas but she just couldn't deal with that right now. A storm of emotions was ripping through her. The betrayal of Randy hurt deeply. There was a soft knock on the door and she heard Lucas' voice. "They brought us some food and left for the night. Please come out and eat."

Sighing she stood and for the first time really surveyed the room. It was about ten feet long and six wide, looking a lot like a jail cell. _Everywhere I go I'm in some kind of jail she_ thought bitterly to herself. The bed took up the entire end with the window and next to that was an old desk with a chair. A single bare light bulb hung from the ceiling and she could see the simple wiring along the wall they installed. At the far end was some basic plumbing, a sink and toilet with a very small privacy screen and mirror. She crossed to the sink and washed her face and hands. Until she looked into the mirror, she didn't even know she had been crying_. I need stop that_, she thought to herself. _We'll never survive if I'm bawling all the time_.

Opening the door, she peeked out at Lucas. He was sitting at a table with food in front of him looking lost. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been mean to you… I just… needed to be alone and think."

Lucas was already standing and shaking his head. "No, Ibanez told me what happened. You don't need to apologize about anything." He took her hand, "Are you ok? I know what… that guy…" He seemed to loathe mentioning the name "Meant to you."

"It's done, it's over. I knew all about their tactics, I guess I just forgot how truly horrible they were in the past months. I'm still trying to strike a balance between looking forward and not forgetting what made me who I am."

"I think that's what everyone has to do Aellai, not just you." Lucas smiled tentatively at her.

She smiled back and sniffed at the food. "That smells really good, I haven't eaten since last night." The sat and began sampling the dinner. Pulled spiced pork with rice and fresh fruit. Lucas poured them both mango juice from a large jug. "Have you found anything on the computers?" Aellai asked between mouthfuls.

"Yeah, a lot actually and I was able to find some reports on Ibanez's operation. I think they're being honest with us. Some of the videos they have..." He shook his head and had to push the food away. "They're horrible. Lutiz should be dropped into the Mariana Trench for what he's done to these people."

"Will you be able to make anything out of them? I think we should send something to the UEO first, see if we can get some help."

Lucas nodded returning to his food. It was just too good to let it go to waste. "I was thinking the same thing but I don't want to send it to just one person. I want hundreds if not thousands of people to see it. I'll have to hijack a news feed or something. If enough people see the atrocities here, the UEO won't be able to stay away."

Aellai held a hand up to stop him and listened towards the door. "Did you hear that?" She crossed to the entry and pressed an ear to the thick wood. "I hear voices, a lot of them." She whispered.

Lucas joined her and nodded. "Yeah, and it sounds like some of them are kids. Do you think a tourist group is going through?"

Aellai shook her head. "It's pretty late. I doubt it." For what seemed like forever they listened to the voices and muffled footsteps go past.

* * *

Ibanez watched the progress with concern but pride. They would be able to keep the families safe here for a while. No one would question the new sign that hung on the gates about repairs. Lutiz and his men would not be able to find them here. "Jules, make sure they have food and blankets. I want someone watching the cameras twenty-four seven. They are here because they've helped us, we can't let them down." Ibanez's right hand man nodded and walked away. Ibanez watched his retreating form, knew that if things didn't happen quickly they would need to find a new place to hide out.

* * *

Leoncio Rubio nervously adjusted his manager's uniform in the hallway. Already they had dealt with a small attack party trying to get into the hotel. His staff had just finished tossing the unconscious military men in a faraway dumpster. And now he had been called to the suite of the UEO's captain and didn't know why. _Just don't say anything stupid_ he chided himself. His information was limited but enough to bring though game crashing down. Steadying himself, he knocked on the door.

Bridger opened the door and couldn't help noticing how nervous the hotel manager looked. There was sweat on his dark forehead and he didn't seem to want to look at him. "Please come in. I have some things I need to discuss with you." Rubio took a shaky breath and obeyed trying not to jump when the door closed and locked behind him.

"You see," Started the Captain slowly. "We had hoped to be checking out today but do to some unforeseen circumstances we will have to say a few more days. I know you and your staff are working extra hard for us to all be here and we wanted to make sure we weren't too much of a burden."

"Oh! That's all sir? Yes, yes of course it's no problem at all. I'll draw up some paper work and get you and your government copies." He turned to go and balked when he saw Tony Piccolo standing against the doorway looking at him with suspicion in his eyes.

"Cap, I've known a lot of untrustworthy people in my life, and this guy is sending up all kinds of signals to me." The ex-con stared the manager down. "I say we ask him a few questions." He advanced and cracked his knuckles.

"Now, I don't know what you mean sir. I just help run this hotel. I know you're concerned about… Eiiii" He stopped himself but knew it was too late.

"You do know something; you need to tell us now." The Captain's voice was soft but menacing.

Rubio looked frantically from one person to the next, everyone one the room stood and stared back. He was particularly worried about the large G.E.L.F. who was looking at dried rose with sadness and seemed to not be part of the conversation at all. He slumped, "Ok, but I don't know much."

* * *

Rubio finished speaking and tried to sneak a glance at the crew gathered around him. He was glad he didn't know where the kids had gone, he could have done much more damage. "Who is Ibanez?" Asked Bridger. "Can we trust him? Or is he just a warlord using Aellai and Lucas?"

"No, no sir. He has been fighting for our people for a long time. I swear to you, your children are safest with him. No one knows where the headquarters are until they are invited." Bridger looked up at Piccolo, the man nodded indicating he believed the manager but had a hard angry expression on his face.

"I better make some calls," Bridger said standing and walking to the vid-link. He tapped a few buttons and Admiral Noyce showed up on the screen. "Bill, we have some information…"

* * *

"There, almost done." Lucas said happily. It was early the next morning and the teens had worked through the night. "When I send this vid out it will play on the world news. Everyone will see it. I can't believe it was so easy to hack into their signal, I mean, come on, try a little will you?" He said with an air of superiority. Aellai just smiled as her tired eyes watched the video feed he had finished. It was disturbing without being too graphic and her voice narrated it.

"When are you going to send it out?" She asked checking her watch.

"Noon, I think. We should be rid of Lutiz and free by supper!" He grinned at her.

She laughed at his enthusiasm. "I'll hold you to that."

They turned as the door opened. Ibanez entered. "Good you're awake. How is the work going?"

"We're done, I just have to transmit the code and the whole world will see it." Lucas responded proudly.

"When will you do it?"

"We were thinking just before noon today." Aellai answered.

"Good, good. Maybe you two should get some sleep you look like you've been up all night." He said noting their tired faces.

Aellai and Lucas both rolled their eyes, yet another adult telling them to sleep. "Yeah yeah whatever." Lucas muttered.

* * *

Lutiz was pouring himself another tall glass of brandy. He didn't care that it was only nine am. He needed to calm down before he lost what small grasp of control he still had. His latest team hadn't come back from the hotel and wouldn't respond to his calls_. All they had to do was grab that old man Bridger or some other important part of the crew. Why was everything falling apart? _He drank the glass and made another one. A member of his staff, a small mousy woman working as a maid watched him closely.

He carried the bottle outside deciding the glass wasn't worth it. Lutiz looked out across his beach and glared at the ocean. _All of this trouble because of that damn ship! _He fumed. Draining the bottle he dropped it and fell into the sand beside it snoring. He never felt the hands picking up or heard the excited voices discussing him.

* * *

"Ready?" Lucas asked several hours later. Aellai and Ibanez nodded and he jabbed a button. "Ok, now we just have to wait. The UEO should storm Lutiz's place and take him any minute now."

"Um, actually there is something I need to show the both of you." Ibanez said with an odd look on his face. He led them to the door and with Jules following the trio they walked down the hall.

They went down a few staircases and Aellai saw they were further underground than she had been before. The walls were dripping wet and there were no electric lights. Both Ibanez and Jules pulled out flash lights. They stopped at an old wooden door with metal studs. _It looks like some old dungeon_, Aellai thought to herself. _Now what is going to happen?_

Ibanez unlocked the door and pulled it open. Inside they saw it was indeed a dungeon. There were torches in brackets sending dancing lights over the wet floor. Setting against a wall with chains attached to his wrists was a man slumped over. "What is this?" Asked Lucas.

The man moaned and began to stir. He looked at the people who had walked in through blurry eyes. Aellai gasped in recognition when she saw his face. It was former President Samuel Lutiz.

* * *

Captain Bridger found himself uncomfortably lying over the arm of the couch. He blinked in the afternoon light and realized he must have fallen asleep. It had been hours since they allowed Rubio to leave the room and most of his crew was in various stages of sleep around him. He heard a beeping noise and saw a blinking light on his vid-link. "Thanks for waking me up, whoever you are." He grumbled and got up to answer it.

"Bridger here." He saw the equally tired face of Admiral Noyce looking back at him.

"Nathan, have you seen any tv today?" His friend asked him. Bridger shook his head. "You need to turn on a news channel." Noyce waited as Bridger found a remote and turned on the large tv in the room. A few people woke up to the noise. "It seems that Aellai and Lucas have been very busy while they were missing."

Bridger didn't hear his friend talking, his eyes were glued to the screen showing pictures and video of dead children and heard his new daughter's voice talking over them. "How did they do this?" He said mostly to himself.

"Nathan, Nathan!" came Bill's voice from the vid-link. Bridger hurried back to him. "They uploaded this a couple hours ago. We're tracing the signal but only got that they were somewhere in Panama City. Lucas must be covering his tracks for some reason. We have our top people working on it. I do believe this means they're ok though."

Bridger nodded and kept watching the feed. Now, everyone in the room was awake and watching in shock. "What does the UEO brass say?"

"They aren't happy. They said they are sending soldiers to help but they feel their hand was forced. Right now is about saving face as much as doing something about this man Lutiz. And that's the other problem…" He hesitated and saw Nathan's face turn back to him. "Lutiz is missing. He hasn't been seen in hours. No one knows if he's hiding or if someone has him. The whole thing is completely FUBAR'ed. I'll let you know when we know more." He signed off but Bridger barely noticed he was gone.

Kristen swallowed back her revulsion at the images on the screen. Her heart broke as she looked at all the children who had suffered at the hands of his man's regime. "If I find him first he's going to pay for this." The crew nodded in agreement.

* * *

"What is this?" Lucas repeating feeling his ire growing. "You brought us here and put us through all of this and you had him the entire time?!"

"No, we just got ahold of him an hour ago." Assured Ibanez.

Lutiz watched the exchange and felt a flicker of hope. If he could break up this little alliance he may have a chance. "Don't listen to him son. I've been here for days. Please don't listen to his lies, help me. You will be rewarded"

Lucas stormed forward before Aellai or Ibanez could stop him. He picked up the shackled man by the shirt and released a savage hay-maker punch into his temple. Lutiz was out again before he fully understood what was happening. "I have seen enough of your shit to know I'd never help you!" Lucas screamed tossing the man to the floor where he didn't move.

Aellai put a restraining hand on Lucas' arm she was stunned to see his outburst and could feel his quivering muscles. "Please understand," Started Ibanez looking at Lucas with a new respect. "We would have taken him before if we could have. With the video released, we knew it would be safer. His men are already scrambling to distance themselves from him. When the UEO contacts us, we will hand him over."

Aellai watched the man who had tormented her her entire life with revulsion. She could hardly fault Lucas for his attack. If she hadn't frozen in shock she would have done the same, if not more. She heard Ibanez's radio chirp and glanced over to him.

"Yes?" He said bringing the radio his mouth.

"Sir, the UEO have responded, there are troops on their way and they want to take Lutiz to trial."

Ibanez smiled with satisfaction. "Perfect. We'll bring Lutiz to the meeting room and contact them." He nodded to Jules and he man crossed to Lutiz and began unlocking his shackles. Speaking to Lucas and Aellai he said, "We don't have anything to secure him with until we get upstairs but since you so helpfully knocked him I think it'll be ok. We will need help carrying him though. I want to get rid of this animal as soon as possible."

Lucas and Aellai each took a leg and the two men took an arm as they brought the unconscious man up the stairs. Lutiz was listening and judging every move his body made. He could tell by the smaller hands that the teens had his feet. He felt the incline as they carried him up the stairs. His head was screaming and he still felt very groggy but knew this was the best time for him to escape.

The strange looking group was about half way up the dark steps when Lutiz suddenly pulled in his legs and kicked back with all of his strength. He heard Aellai scream as she tripped and fell backwards down the floor. Twisting his arms free he pushed the two men forward. Only Lucas was still holding on and Lutiz used his surprise to grab the youth around the neck and pull him in front of his own body. He laughed at the dazed expressions around him in the near darkness. "What did you really think it would be that easy?" Aellai started back up the stairs in fury but Lutiz tightened his arm around Lucas' neckline. "Now, you just be careful little girl. I'd hate to accidently snap this fine young neck."

Aellai was breathing slowly in rage. Lutiz turned to the men still above him. "Keep going, you are going to lead me out of this damn place." The trio hand no choice but to obey and started walking. They came to the ground floor and blinked in the sudden light.

"Please stop." Aellai said from behind the ex-president. She was on her knees before him. "Take me, don't hurt him."

Lutiz sneered, "My dear, I plan to take both of you. Get off the floor and show some of that strength I've heard so much about. Or did you lose it all when you fell in love?" he asked cruelly.

Aellai stood as directed but was able to pull her large survival knife from her boot without anyone seeing. She slipped it into the back of her jeans and they walked down the long corridor to the entryway.

They reached the exit door and Ibanez looked at the youths sadly. "I'm sorry. This wasn't supposed to happen. We will find a way to help you." Aellai ignored him and stepped in front of Lutiz and Lucas out into the sunlight.

Aellai narrowed her eyes against the brightness and saw the courtyard looked very different. There were men and women in UEO military uniforms facing the group from the building. They had guns trained on all of them. "Don't move!" Ordered a voice. They saw a middle aged man striding to the front. "I am Captain Roberts. There is nowhere for you to go Lutiz. Take a step and my crew will shoot you."

"Now you know that's not true Captain." Lutiz said with distain. "The UEO would never let their little pet be hurt. I'm going to take him and his freak of a girlfriend with me and you won't be able to stop us."

Aellai turned to face Lutiz. "No," She said quietly. "This ends now." Shoving Lucas aside with her magic she pulled the knife out and slid it into Lutiz's throat while coldly looking in his eyes.

Lutiz felt the blood spurt from him and tried to gasp for air. More terrifying than the pain, however, was Aellai's face so close to his. Triumph and a cool detachment were there. He had only seen that face when she won a fight in the pits so long ago. Lutiz slithered to the ground and didn't move. Aellai dropped the knife and walked away.

* * *

Hours later the teenagers found themselves wearily standing outside the door of the suite they had left not so long ago. "Are you ready for this?" Lucas asked. Aellai only nodded. She was still covered in blood and felt like she would drop where she stood before long. Lucas knocked and they held their breath when the door opened to show Dr. Westphalen.

She looked at both of them in shock before yelling, "Nathan! Come quickly!" She pulled the teens inside the room and they were over whelmed by the shouts of joy coming from the gathered crew.

Bridger came running from upstairs. "What happened?" He skidded to a stop when he saw the both of them.

"Hey," Aellai said a little awkwardly. What does one say in a situation like this?

Bridger said nothing and reached out to hold her. He saw both of them were filthy and looked exhausted but he didn't care. Reaching his arm out, he pulled Lucas into the embrace.

After a few moments, Tony was the one to interrupt them once again. "So, wanna tell us what happened?"

The crew started to laugh with relief as Bridger rolled his eyes at him.

* * *

Kristen and Bridger sat at the table drinking coffee. They had a few hours before they would check out of the hotel and take a flight to New Cape Quest. Nathan couldn't help his eyes flicking to the bedroom door that Aellai and Lucas were behind. After telling their story the Doctor had forced the teens to bed and ordered them not to come out until they had at least eight good hours sleep. So far the story had not hit the news stations and the crew hoped to be in the air before it did. After debriefing the kids, the UEO asked them not to say more than they had to until the story was released so they could figure out what version they wanted out. Of course they had told the crew everything but kept the promise about news organizations. They didn't want to talk to them anyhow.

The bedroom door opened and Aellai peeked out the crack. "Is it safe to come out yet?" She whispered to the adults. Kristen laughed a little and nodded. "Great, I'm starving!" she said after shutting the door.

"How are you feeling dear?" Asked the doctor handing her some fruit.

"I'm still tired to be honest. I had a hard time staying asleep." Her eyes had a haunted look.

"What you did… what you had to do, it'd be hard on anyone Aellai." The Captain told her softly.

She nodded and started to peal a banana. "I know, and I don't feel bad really. He's gone, the world is better off without him… much better off. I feel free but I can't get the image out of my mind. I feel like I'll see him dying every moment of my life." She bit into the banana and went silent.

"We will be there, both of us and Lucas…the whole crew actually. Anytime you need to talk about it or anything just tell us." Bridger looked down as his adopted daughter. He knew it was better if she didn't close herself off to them after this.

Aellai finished her breakfast and stood. "I will, I promise." She heard sounds coming from the bedroom and turned her head. "I think I need to talk to Lucas first though. He seemed a little freaked last night."

She walked to the room and opened the door, Lucas jumped in surprise when he heard the sound. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "Still a little jumpy I guess."

Aellai sat on the bed but wouldn't look at him. "Are we ok?" She asked in a scared voice.

Lucas sat next to her. "What do you mean?"

"You saw me… stab someone in front of you. That didn't bother you?"

"I was more bothered by the bruise I got when I landed. And that I wasn't fast enough to get away from him when he grabbed me in the stairwell." He placed a finger under her chin and turned her face to his. "I'll be completely honest you. It was scary to see you do that but if you didn't, we'd be dead right now or Lutiz would be torturing us. Of the choices, I'll take scary any day."

Aellai smiled and held Lucas tight.

* * *

A few weeks later Aellai was very happy to be back on SeaQuest. She had kept up with the news from Panama every day. She was relieved to that Ibanez was named as Temporary President and it looked like he would be elected after the interim. She was still struggling with some nightmares but most nights slept easy. She was about to start her shift when Ben Krieg knocked on her door. "Hey, got some fan mail for you chicky."

She raised an eyebrow at being called chicky but took the box. It was about a foot long barring a UEO stamp. "Thanks, Ben." She opened it and had to sit down hard on the bed as memories came rushing back. The EUO had returned her knife when they finished the investigation. She dropped it on the floor and ran from the room.

Aellai was somewhat surprised to find herself outside of Bridger's quarters she had just been trying to get away from the images in her head. She thought for a moment and then knocked. Bridger opened the door holding a coffee mug. "Hey kiddo, what's wrong." He asked seeing her pale face.

"Can we talk?"

"Of course, any time." He let her in and she sank into his couch.

"I was doing good. I'm sleeping, eating, all the stuff Dr. Westphalen gets after me about. But… I just got a package from the UEO and … I kinda freaked out."

"What was it?" Bridger asked annoyed the UEO would have done anything to hurt the girl.

"My knife. They must be done with their investigation and they sent it back to me. I didn't want it. Not after what I did. It just made everything so fresh in my head."

Bridger sighed. "I know this is hard for you and I understand. You killed a man. "Aellai flinched. "I know he was bastard, and you had no choice but you still killed a human being. Honestly, if you weren't upset, I'd be worried. Give it time. You'll be ok"

Aellai nodded slowly processing what he had said. "It also made me think of something else though. Before… before Lutiz died he said I had lost my strength when I fell in love. Do you think that's true?"

The Captain wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Yes, actually. He was a psycho but that is true. And I'm glad for it." Aellai looked up at him startled. "We all lose something when we love people, strength, individuality, even courage. When I found out you and Lucas were missing, I felt powerless, like I couldn't move a muscle. We do become weak when we love, but the important thing to remember is do you want to be untouchable or do you want your life to mean something to you and the people around you?"

"Thank you, that means quite a lot." She stood, "I'll come back when I need to talk again…Dad."

Back in her room Aellai looked at the knife, it had been cleaned of all the blood and it looked like it did before. She polished it and slipped it into her the sheath in her boot before walking out of the room.

* * *

**Author's note: Ok, ok, ok, I know it got a bit cheesy at the end there but I wanted them to a have little moment. **


	6. Weakness

**Dedicated to JBH who made me look at myself.**

* * *

Aellai cursed loudly and glanced over her shoulder. She was safe; her adoptive father was on the other side of the bridge. Cursing in a much lower tone, she dove back under the communications console. "Geez, Tim who are you playing footsie with under here? Half the wires are knocked out."

Tim O'Neill adjusted his glasses and scowled at the jean clad legs of the teenaged girl. "You're as bad as Lucas when he has to fix something."

"Well, he did teach me everything I know soooo…" Tim snorted and walked away.

Aellai let loose another string of obscenities when she heard Captain Bridger's angry voice. "Young lady! What did you just say about the computer's mother?"

Aellai jumped and smacked her head on the underside of the console, she swore again. "Sorry Dad, I didn't know you were there."

Bridger laughed, "I'd rather you didn't speak like that all."

"Well, you know us teenagers; running wild, no plans for the future and all that" came the reply. "There, almost fixed." A hand reached out and groped for a tool beyond her reach. Instead of helping, Bridger watched and within moments the tool flew into her hand without any outside force.

"That never gets old." The Captain loved seeing the amazing things his daughter could do.

"Ok, done." She slid out "And I've added some extra protection in case Tim starts kicking in his sleep or something." The bridge crew laughed appreciatively and Tim glared at her but grinned in the end. Even Commander Ford hid a smile under his hand.

Bridger tried to stop himself from joining but in the end gave up. It had been only a few weeks since he adopted Aellai and was pleased to see how the added stability and love that crew provided had caused her to flourish. "If you're done, wash up and I'll join you for dinner. See if you can dig up Lucas too." Aellai managed to hide the eye roll from her father but he knew it occurred anyhow.

* * *

Ten minutes later Aellai showed up in the mess hall with Lucas in tow. They were talking animatedly about a new program Lucas had received from his friend Mycroft "...and when I add my data and reprogram the sensors, we'll be able to change all of the lights and speakers in Krieg's quar... Oh hello Captain." He stopped suddenly and blushed.

"Lucas." Bridger inclined his head questioningly. "I hope you two aren't planning anything to disruptive." The Captain was seated at a table just inside of the doorway with a cup of coffee. He had already heard more than he wanted to.

"Oh, um, nothing, we aren't planning anything, sir." Lucas tried to look very innocent.

Bridger snorted, "Like I said, not to disruptive please." The teens looked at each other sideways and scurried off to find some food.

Lucas poked at the "lasagna surprise" on his plate. "I don't want to know" he muttered.

"Should have gone with the veggie option, it's pretty good." Aellai was eating a bowl of buttered spinach and kale. Lucas wrinkled his nose at the green goo.

Bridger cleaner his throat, "How's the school work going Aellai?" She had been taking courses off the 'nex to earn her GED for the last few weeks.

"Not bad, I'm ok with pretty much ok with everything. A lot of the stuff is pretty boring to be honest." She took a sip of coffee. "I'd rather be working in the labs."

"Well, it's something important if you ever want to do something that doesn't involve the SeaQuest." The Captain reminded her.

"I know Dad, I think I want to try to take the test in a little while and see if I do ok. Then I'll be done with it all."

"Go ahead, if you don't do well there's no penalty involved. You can keep taking final test until you pass it." Bridger encouraged her.

The trio continued eating and was only interrupted by Aellai violent shudder. Lucas and Bridger looked at her in alarm. "What's wrong?" Her father asked.

"I donno, I just got really cold. What's that old saying? Someone walked over my grave?"

The Captain tried to brush away the troubling image and reached out to feel Aellai's forehead. "You don't feel hot kiddo, but you should get to sleep early tonight in case you're getting something."

"Yeah, I'll try. I have some homework I want to get done." Aellai answered hedging.

"Aellai..." Came the stern admonishment. "Go to bed or I'll tell Kristen."

The teen girl looked at her father with an expression of mock horror. "You wouldn't! It's just a cold or something!"

"Lucas, please make sure she gets some sleep." He turned to the young man not missing the humor in his blue eyes.

"Yes, sir." Lucas was just happy Bridger's parenting skills were being used on someone else for a change. "Come on, I'll tuck you in." He stood and reached a hand out to Aellai. She scowled but accepted.

"You're so going to pay for that!" She whispered as they walked out of the mess hall. Lucas only laughed flicking his blonde hair out of his eyes.

* * *

Lucas saw movement from the corner of his eye and pulled out his headphones. Aellai murmured and rolled over again. As he watched, she shivered again and pulled the blanket up higher. He stood and dug in one of the cabinets until he found an extra blanket. He tossed it on the sleeping form and felt her forehead. _Still a normal feeling temp_ he thought. _Maybe I'll have to force her to the doctor's office in the morning. That'll be interesting._ He set the book he had been reading down and crawled into bed with her.

The next morning Aellai woke up feeling very rested but still cold. She slid out of the bed trying not disturb Lucas. She picked up one of Lucas' flannel shirts and shrugged it on. Pulling up her schedule on the computer she was pleased to see she didn't have to be anywhere until after lunch. Leaving a note for Lucas on the screen, she changed and headed to the moon pool.

Aellai shivered in the damp air and tossed her towel on the steps to the pool. Darwin's head appeared above the water. "Play!" he demanded.

She laughed, "That's what I'm here for Darwin. How are you doing?"

"Darwin find lots of fish!"

"Good, maybe you won't be begging for any treats then."

"Treat? Darwin likes treats!" Aellai started laughing again and jumped in the water.

They played for an hour before Lucas stumbled in. "Hey fish-face stop stealing my girlfriend. You know she can't resist your charms."

"Lucas swim!" Darwin squirted water at the teen and he jumped aside as Aellai giggled.

"Can't right now, I have stuff to do. I just wanted to check on Aellai." He glanced at her.

Aellai pushed her shaggy black hair out of her dark eyes. "I feel fine, I ate, I remember eating, and I slept very well. Any other questions?"

Lucas put his hands up with the palms out in a gesture of yielding. "Ok, ok, I believe you. Want to meet for lunch?"

"Yeah, that'd be great. Afterwards I have to help the Doctor with some circuits that don't want to behave." Aellai smiled, she couldn't stay annoyed at the boy for any long period of time. Lucas waved his goodbye and Darwin used the distraction to steal the sponge from her. "Hey!" She dove after the dolphin and began wrestling with him.

She swam for another hour before growing tired. "I think I'm done for a while Darwin. I need to shower and get changed anyhow." She started to pull herself up on the edge of the pool and gave annoyed grunt. When Lucas had jumped away from Darwin's spray, he kicked her towel several feet away. Not wanting to drip all over the floor, she reached out her magic to bring the towel to her. It started to rise up but dropped to the floor. Making a face, she concentrated harder and tried again. The towel wiggled but didn't come.

"Okaaaaay, that's new." Aellai climbed out of the pool and grabbed the towel trying to minimize the mess.

* * *

At lunch Lucas became worried about Aellai's quiet demeanor. "You sure you're feeling better?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, just thinking." She answered distracted.

Lucas' blue eyes narrowed, "Maybe you should have a word with Kristen when you're there."

Aellai surprised him by nodding. "I was already planning too." She pushed her food away and left a confused and startled Lucas at the table.

"Hey Doc," Aellai said entering the medbay a few minutes later. "Can we talk?"

Dr. Westphalen hid her surprise. It was never easy getting either of the teens on the ship to talk when they had problems. "Of course hun, head to the examination room. I'll right there."

Aellai hopped on a cot and tried to pull the curtain around with her magic. Like the towel, it only twitched. Kristen walked into the room and pulled the curtain around the two of them giving them some privacy. She looked at the upset girl "What's the matter Aellai?"

"I don't know Doctor. I've been feeling really cold. I feel fine other than being cold. And... I can't do..." She sighed, her eyes filling with tears. "I've lost my magic." She whispered.

* * *

"Any ideas Kristen?" Asked Bridger. Aellai had begged her not to tell anyone but the Doctor had informed her as a crew member and minor she had to report it to her father. Lucas had been summoned as well and he stood next to the bed Aellai was sitting on but she refused to look at any of them.

_I'm useless_, she thought to herself. _Without my abilities I can't do anything. They won't want me on the ship; I'm just a nuisance to them._ Aellai had been using her magic for so long she was quickly becoming despondent without it.

"Not really Nathan. Her temperature is normal for another person, just not her. She has always run a degree or two higher. She's cold just because she isn't use to it. It would appear that her magic has weakened severely but I don't know why."

Lucas flinched and glared at the two adults. They were talking about her like she wasn't even in the room. He looked back at Aellai but she was still staring at the floor silently.

"There have been some advancements in the research of magic though," Continued Kristen. "Many scientists think it's actually connected to psychic powers but manifests differently." Aellai glanced up for the first time. "With the ... recent stresses she's undergone, it's possible it's mental block."

"No," Aellai interrupted. "I'm happy; I would have had problems longer ago if it were that."

Dr. Westphalen placed her hand on Aellai's shoulder reassuringly. "Sometimes it takes a while to come to the surface dear." She looked back up at Bridger. "Could you join me in the office Nathan?"

He nodded and brushed some hair out of his daughter's eyes. "You'll be ok kiddo." He said before walking after the Doctor.

They entered the office and Kristen shut the door firmly behind them. "Is there anything else Kristen?" Asked Bridger.

"Not much, like I said there is very little research on the subject of magic users. Depending on the government they come from they can become lab rats or forced into armies. Normally they hide their talents and I can't say I blame them for it." Kristen paused to fix a stray lock of red hair. "I think it's best if we keep her on her normal work schedule, make her life as structured as possible. She needs security right now; she needs to know her life isn't going to be in upheaval again."

"But, how do we..." Bridger was interrupted by loud voices coming from the next room. To his shock Aellai and Lucas were arguing heatedly. None of the crew had ever seen the teens have more than a minor disagreement before.

Both adults ran into the room "...No! It's not safe, you can't! I won't let you!" Lucas was yelling.

Aellai was red-faced with suppressed rage. "I didn't ask your permission. I was telling you what was going to happen. If you don't like it you don't have to come with!"

"Whoa, whoa, let's calm down kids, what's the matter?" Bridger said trying to defuse the situation.

"I want to go see Dr. Wendy. She unlocked my brain before," she gave Lucas a chilling look, "Remember?"

Lucas paled at the cold tone and memory. "I know," he answered, quieter now. "I just don't know if it's safe right now. You're... you're not yourself. If something happened, I can't defend you." He finished in a whisper.

Aellai's hard expression softened and she stared at the floor again. "You don't have to defend me. No one will know who I am and I'll be fine."

"What do you think Kristen?" Bridger asked.

"Well, I don't really like the idea of her leaving the ship, but she's right that Wendy may know more than I do." She turned to Aellai again. "If you go, you must be very careful. You must obey whomever the Captain sends with you for security. Can you promise that?"

Aellai nodded, "I'm going too." Lucas interjected.

"I thought you might want to kiddo. I'll have to see who is available to escort you. And you need to promise to obey them as well Lucas." The youth was already agreeing, not caring what the Captain was actually asking him. "Ok, it's settled, you two need to go pack. I'll let you know who is coming with as soon as I know."

* * *

Three hours later Lucas and Aellai walked into the loading bay. They were surprised to see Dagwood standing there with Lt. Ben Krieg. "Hey Dag, Ben. Are you guys our escorts?" Lucas said smiling. "Wait, you aren't driving Ben are you?" He started thinking of all the stories he had heard of Ben "crash" Krieg.

"No," A voice behind them said. "I am, only to drop you off then I have to come back." They turned to see Katie Hitchcock.

"Oh, how fun. I get to spent four hours in a tiny sub with you." Ben looked at Lucas. "Can borrow your headphones?"

The teens laughed as Katie turned her intense light grey eyes on the supply officer. "Be good or you'll be trussed up on the floor. I'm sure Dagwood would sit on you too if I asked nicely."

"Dagwood will help you Katie!" The G.E.L.F. told her proudly. Laughing at Krieg's reaction everyone started to board the mini-sub.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" They heard from behind them.

"Oh, sorry Dad." Aellai said.

Bridger wrapped his daughter in a warm hug. "Wendy will figure out what's wrong. Just try to stay safe and call me, ok?" She nodded. "I've contacted Dr. Wendy and she's happy to have you at the Chatton Parapsychology Center."

"Ben, Dagwood, keep them safe please." He released Aellai and draped an arm around Lucas. "Keep her safe too, kiddo. Don't let her do anything crazy." All of the members of the little group saluted on cue and climbed into the mini-sub.

* * *

The trip to the coast was rather uneventful even with Dagwood shooting glances between Krieg and Katie ready to do as she asked on the SeaQuest. They arrived at the docking facility at New Cape Quest without any difficulty. "Ok Ben," Katie caught his arm before he could follow the rest out. "No goofing off on this one. You need to watch them, Dagwood is the muscle and you, for some insane reason, are the brains of the operation. Don't screw this up."

Krieg nodded, "I know, I know. Trust me, keeping these kids safe is my main priority." Hitchcock saw the look on her ex-husband's face and was surprised to see the sincerity etched in it. "Katie, I'll want to help Aellai as much as any of you. I know how important this is."

Hitchcock found herself seeing the good looking troublemaker with new respect. "Ok, stay in touch. Bridger wants daily updates on what's happening. Be careful Ben."

He grinned his normal cocky smile and ducked out the door.

* * *

After checking out a UEO transport vehicle Ben drove them the short distance to the Chatton Center. Aellai and Dagwood marveled at the large campus like buildings surrounded by trees and carpeted with grass that Lucas couldn't help but smile at their wonder. They easily found the main building and saw Dr. Wendy standing outside waiting for them.

Aellai had to be stopped from bounding out the transport by Lucas. "Wait for Ben." He reminded her. Aellai huffed but let the Lt. open the door and guide her out watching for dangers. Dagwood followed her and tried to copy Krieg's actions. Lucas came out lastly and couldn't help but notice no was watching for him. He brushed off the annoyance knowing it was more important to keep Aellai safe at the moment.

"Aellai, you really look wonderful. Ben, Dagwood, how are you?" Wendy asked hugging the girl first. She turned to Lucas. "I think you got taller Lucas, you are turning into quite the young man." Lucas blushed deeply and couldn't respond.

"We're very good, thank you Doctor." Said Krieg noting Lucas' discomfort and trying to distract everyone. "How has everything been going here at the institute?"

"Oh, not bad. We have a new very interesting case. You'll meet Mr. Reeve later. He's almost forty but he just came into his psychic abilities. He's incredibly powerful and is making advancements everyday." Wendy seemed very excited but Ben noticed a troubled look in her eye._ Maybe she's worried about Aellai,_ he thought. "Well, I'll show you to your rooms, I'm sure you are all tired and want to freshen up."

She led the group to a plush apt on the second floor with two bedrooms, a kitchenette and living area. Lucas looked oddly at the decorating scheme. There were no colors, everything was covered with geometric black and white shapes. "Is this to elevate cognitive levels?" He asked.

Wendy smiled, "Yes, it is Lucas. Since when are you interested in the subject?"

"Oh, I just read something about it a few weeks ago. I thought about trying it." He said shyly.

Ben laughed, "Do we really need a smarter you? I think you pretty much broke the mold buddy."

"Oh you know, I could always learn to do your job and give everyone else a break!" Everyone burst out laughing as Krieg made a face at the boy.

Lucas and Aellai checked out their room to let Ben ascertain the security of the room. He was satisfied with what he found and returned to the kitchen to dig up some food. Finding only simple snacks he sighed. "I guess we'll have to go out for food."

Wendy nodded, "There are few places on campus, you won't have go far. I'd be..." She was interrupted by a knock on the door. She went to open it but Ben stopped her.

He glanced through the peep hole and didn't recognize the man standing on the other side. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I was looking for Dr. Smith. I believe she's with you?" Said the man on the other side.

"That would be Ken Reeve, you can let him in." Wendy told Ben.

He opened the door and surveyed the man. He was middle aged with brown hair starting to grey. His green eyes looked at Ben critically. He was tall and muscular with a sneer on his face. "If you're done staring, I'd like to come in." Ben raised an eyebrow but stepped out of the way.

Hearing the voices, Lucas and Aellai stepped from the bedroom. Lucas placed himself in front of the smaller girl and scowled when he saw the stranger. "Who are you?"

"This is Mr. Reeve, Lucas, the one I was telling you about earlier." She turned to Ken, "You'll have to excuse them. We are all pretty protective our young crew members."

He said nothing but watched Aellai closely. She could feel the tingling around her head that singled a mental scan. She threw up her walls and glared back.

"Ken! Thats very rude!" Wendy exclaimed shocked.

"I'm sorry, I'm still new to this. Sometimes I forget myself." He said inclining his head in apology.

"I understand." Aellai said coldly and evenly. "I am pretty good at defending against that kind of thing." She fully understood she was issuing a challenge but couldn't help not liking the man. Even if he hadn't tried to scan her, he was looking her up and down like she was animal at the zoo.

"Ken, did you need something?" Wendy asked trying to smooth things over.

"Oh, yes, I wanted to ask you something about the next project but I see you are busy. I can wait until later or tomorrow if you like." With difficulty he tore his eyes away from Aellai.

"Yes, please. I'll see you tomorrow then." She ushered him to the door and he left without saying goodbye.

"I'm sorry about that everyone. He's a little rough around the edges but we're working with him." Wendy looked upset and no one pushed the issue.

The group ate at a small burger joint close to their room and they greatly enjoyed their first real food in weeks. They updated Wendy on the new gossip around the ship and she told them about the different projects they had been working on with the students. They walked back to the room and Aellai finally got a moment with the Doctor away from everyone. "So how much did the Captain tell you?"

"Everything, but if you want to wait until tomorrow to talk we can."

"Nah," She glanced at everyone hanging out in the living area talking and relaxing. "I mean, they all know what happening. No point in hiding away."

Wendy was very impressed with Aellai's new openness. "Well, Dr. Westphalen explained the mental block idea. Later I'll do a scan and see what I can find. Beyond that, perhaps just talking and teaching you some new concentration skills." She reached out and took Aellai's hand. "We'll figure this out. We'll get you back."

Aellai swallowed a sob, "Thank you Wendy. I really appreciate it."

* * *

The next morning the group toured the area some more before Aellai's first appt with Wendy. Dagwood was awestruck by the large stallion in a paddock and would have stared at it all day if he hadn't been dragged off. There were several animals of many types here. Aellai watched a young girl using her abilities to play an extreme form of catch with a large husky. She would toss the ball and then use her power to keep it going as the dog chased it joyfully. There were even a few cats, their gold eyes lazily watching floating feathers the kids tried to entice them with.

Aellai smiled and took in all the happy well adjusted kids around her. "Wow, what I would given to have give to grow up here..." She muttered mostly to herself.

"I think you would have hated it." Ben said from behind her. "People prying into your mind all the time, knowing everything you are thinking, no privacy."

She turned, "most aren't like that. A few people do, but there are jerks in every large group of people. You can't lump them all together." Since finding out her powers, or lack there of, were connected to the psychics Aellai felt very defensive of them.

"I know, I'm not saying they are. But you can't tell me that Ken guy didn't raise your hackles." Ben countered knowingly.

Aellai made a face, "I really don't like him, but I think it wouldn't matter what he was. He's just a creep."

"Ready for your appt Aellai?" They all turned to see Dr. Wendy walking to them.

She smiled, "yup! What are you guys going to do?" She turned back to the group.

"I think just back to the room. I have a program to work on." Lucas' eyes flicked to Ben and back to Aellai giving her a secret smile. She grinned back and hugged him goodbye.

"And I promised the Captain I wouldn't let you out of my sight so I'll be with you." Ben said protectively."Dag, stay with Lucas in the room. We'll be back as soon as we can. Keep him safe big guy." Dagwood nodded looking grave and the two of them wandered away.

Aellai went with Dr. Wendy to her office while Ben took a seat in a waiting room right outside the door. "Ok, if you want to lay down, I'll start the scan." Wendy said pointing to a couch. Aellai settled in on the soft black and white couch and Wendy placed her hand over her forehead. "Just remember to keep your mind open. It's natural to try and close it but hold on to a safe feeling. It's just me in here, no one can hurt you."

Aellai closed her eyes and centered on her breathing, she felt the tingling and knew when Wendy slipped inside her head. The Doctor stepped in to her mind and looked around, it looked very different than the last time she entered it. She could see there was still damage but it was much healthier and no walls were built. Wendy saw several flickers of memories and tried to ignore the most personal ones. She was happy to see so many normal scenes in the girl's mind.

Everything seemed in order, she couldn't see anything that would cause Aellai to lose her powers. Wendy had to pause when the memory of the girl's last encounter with ex-president Lutiz flitted by. She physically flinched back when the knife opened up his throat and he fell. "This poor kid, how is she still going on after all that?" The Doctor wondered out loud to herself.

The memory faded and Wendy saw something out of place for the first time. There was a large human shaped mass of something dark. It looked like a particularly bad thunderstorm cloud with lightning shooting through it. She approached it carefully, "hello, who are you?"

"None of your concern, leave this place." It answered in an echoing voice.

"No, I will not. You need to leave. This place is not for you."

The being laughed. "Leave now Wendy, I could kill your body without effort and you will be stuck here in this damaged mind forever."

Dr. Wendy blinked and stepped back. "How do you know who I am?"

"I know more than you could possibly believe. I am stronger than you could ever understand. Soon, I will be a god." He flicked a hand and Wendy found herself flying through space and exiting Aellai's mind with force.

She stepped back panting. "What was that?!"

Aellai's eyes sprang open, "what happened? What did you find? Am I being controlled again?" The teen swallowed, her worst fear was that the mechanism Randy entered years ago had yet another chapter.

"No, it's something completely different. I've never seen anything like it." She said to the frightened girl. "We will get it out. We won't let it win."

* * *

Ben heard the sound of crying before the door opened. He jumped up ready for action and was struck silent when he saw it was Aellai sobbing on Wendy's shoulder. "You need to bring her back to the room so she can rest for while. I found something... but I don't know what it is. I'll meet with some of the other teachers and discuss it with them. Please keep an eye on her, she's very upset." Wendy looked very troubled as she spoke.

Ben could only nod, he looked at Aellai and saw she was in no condition to walk with him. He bent and picked up small girl in his arms. Instead of protesting she curled against him and hid her face._This is bad_, he thought to himself. _This is really bad. How could things go so wrong in just fifteen minutes?_

* * *

He carried her through the campus ignoring the looks from the few people scattered on the grounds. Most of the students were on a break but there about two dozen lounging in the sun. They reached the door of their room and he had to set her down to open it. She stood obediently without a word. Ben opened the door and learned just how badly things had gone in the last fifteen minutes. The room was destroyed. Chairs were knocked over and the plaster was cracked in the walls. Dagwood was laying in a crumpled heap against a broken wall covered in blood and Lucas was nowhere to be seen.


	7. Weakness part 2

Lucas felt a shooting pain through his head. He tried to rub away the pain before opening his eyes but found he couldn't. His arms were secured to his sides, he tried to kick and found his legs tied as well. When he attempted to sit up he could only move an inch due to a chest strap._ Great, Captain is going to kill me_ he thought angrily. Lucas opened his eyes but couldn't see any more than with them closed. Wherever he was was pitch black. "Awesome." He muttered.

A soft light flicked on behind him and he tried to turn. "Hello Mr. Wolenczak, thank you for finally joining me." The teen jerked painfully at the voice but tried to keep quiet. "I'd rather not hurt you if possible. I just need you to do something for me."

"I've heard that before." He replied bitterly. He knew the voice but couldn't be sure.

There was a soft chuckle. "Yes, it seems a lot of people are interested in you and your girlfriend."

Lucas bristled, "Leave her alone. If you touch her I'll kill you." He tried to sound much braver than he felt being tied to a bed.

Again came the chuckle and Lucas heard movement. The man crossed the room and clicked on a bright overhead light. Lucas blinked and saw the face leering at him. "Ken." His suspicions were confirmed.

"Yes, it was really very simple. I knew of powers Aellai showed and decided to get close to Wendy in order to learn more. When I heard you were coming here, I just had to wait."

"You did this to her?!" Lucas demanded.

"No, actually my dear boy. That's still something I have to figure out. It should be simple though once she lets me into her mind. I was there before but Wendy was poking around. I left her..." He smiled mockingly. "Something interesting to ponder." Fear prickled Lucas' stomach, _was Wendy hurt_?

"So," Continued the man. "All I need from you is to call Aellai. Focus on me and call out to her. Oh, and don't worry about calling to your friend Wendy or any of the other people around here who think they have powers. We are in a specially insulated room that will not allow energies in or out. It was made for people who needed a break from the voices around them." He grinned in triumph. "I know she won't respond to me calling you even if I send her a mental picture of you tied up here. She's too smart for something like that. But if she hears you screaming her name she won't be able to resist. All I have to do is walk out this door and send my memory to her."

Lucas seethed, "No, I don't care what you do to me. I won't do it."_ I've dealt with pain before, I can handle this._ He thought desperately to himself.

"Are you sure? This won't be like the simple blows your father inflicted on you. This will be something... much different and longer lasting" Ken asked softly reading the boy's mind. "Because once you decide not to help, there is no going back, and it could get... messy." His green eyes glittered with malice.

Lucas tried to get his breath under control and glared back. It was going to be bad and he knew it.

* * *

"Stay here and don't move until I say it's safe." Ben ordered Aellai. He shut and locked the door and ran to Dagwood with his sidearm in hand. She stared at the scene around her, the horror of it all shocking her out of her earlier misery. "He's alive." Krieg called out after checking the Dagger's pulse. Carefully he entered the first bedroom blading his body to create a smaller target. "It's clear in here, come in."

Aellai followed without question. "Stay here, lock the door. Do not open the door unless I tell you to. I'm going to clear the rest of the place and call Wendy." She nodded and closed the door behind him. The bedroom had also seen violence but not as much as the main room. Aellai saw Lucas' computer laying on the floor in pieces. She sat on the bed trying to get a grasp on her panic. It would have taken some one very strong to get the best of Dagwood. And now that person had Lucas.

A minute later there was a knock on the door, "it's me, there isn't anyone here and Wendy is on her way. You can come out."

Aellai came out and went directly to Dagwood's side. There was a lot of dark blood surrounding his multi colored head. She grabbed a pillow and slid it under his head and started to check his injury. There was a long gash along one side, he also had several bruises starting on his face. She heard Krieg trying to contact the SeaQuest.

Loud knocking made her jump and Ben left the vid-link to rush to check the door. It was Wendy, the Doctor saw the state of the room and her face went white. She ran over to where Dagwood was laying. "Please hold his head steady but allowing me to move it when I have to." Wendy didn't really need the help but wanted keep Aellai busy before the girl starting thinking about the situation to much.

Aellai did as she was asked but her mind raced. She had to do something, Lucas was missing and she had to help him. Her frantic thoughts were interrupted by her father's voice. She turned towards the sound.

"What's happening Ben?" The Captain demanded.

"I'm not really sure sir, Dagwood had been attacked and the room is trashed. Aellai was with me and we're safe but... Lucas is gone."

Bridger's face paled and he inhaled sharply. "Any leads?"

"Not until Dag wakes up sir. Do you want us to call the police or the UEO?"

"No, not right away. This may be some kind of inside job. Very few people knew you were there. Get what information you can and call me back. I'll start organizing a crew but we're so far away it'll take half the day to get to you." Bridger signed off and rubbed his face. He felt bad for being so relieved Aellai was safe when he knew Lucas could very well be in mortal danger. Clicking a few buttons he called his senior crew members to the Ward room.

* * *

Lucas' eyes followed Ken as he walked the length of the room. "Are you sure you don't want help?" The older man asked. He glared in response. "Alrighty, just let me adjust the bed. I find this works a little faster when the person can see what is happening." He smiled darkly and adjusted the small bed until Lucas was in a semi-sitting position. He was some what surprised at the bravery the boy was showing. _Well, that will change soon_ he thought.

Lucas could now see his legs and was confused to see he was missing his pants. Below his shirt there was only his thigh length boxershorts. He tried to remember what happened before he woke. Part of his mind knew he was just trying to distract himself from what was coming but he no choice if he wanted to stay calm. I_ was in the bedroom working on my computer getting the program to prank Ben working. There was a long bang from the living room and I stood up to check it out. The door opened and_ ... Lucas thought hard. That was all he could remember. _Well, thats not going to help me._

"Are you ready?" Ken asked from his feet. Lucas jerked away despite his plan to not show fear. Next to Ken, in a metal tray were several sharp looking scalpels. "Try not to move to much , if you do, I may cut too deeply and I'm not very good at surgery... well, not the helpful type anyhow." Ken smiled with a glint in his eye. The boy looked terrified, maybe this won't take long. "Remember, all you have to do is call to her."

Ken took one of the scalpels and ran his hand up Lucas' leg. He stopped at the hem of the shorts, Lucas barely stopped himself from shuddering at the touch. "Lets get started, shall we?" He asked. Slowly, he pressed the blade into the skin below the shorts and drew a thin line down to the opposite side of Lucas' knee. The blood welled but didn't drip since he hadn't cut deeply enough.

Pain surged through Lucas' body and he held back a scream. He leg felt like it was on fire. His breath came in short gasps. _Stay calm, don't let him beat you. You can do this, you can do this, you can do this. _He repeated to himself. He felt Ken's hand on his leg again and Lucas turned his head away squeezing his eyes closed. Starting on the other side of the same thigh, he again drew the blade down Lucas' thigh to the knee. "X marks the spot!" Ken laughed. Lucas looked and saw the bloody x on his leg.

"How do you feel?" The man asked. Lucas didn't bother looking at him. "Ok, lets give you a matching set." He crossed to the other side of the bed and took hold of the right leg. Slowly he repeated the process. _Pass out, let go, he'll stop if I can't scream for him. _Lucas thought willing the darkness to come. "Anything? No comments? How rude." Ken said mockingly. He grabbed one of the freshly cut legs tightly and Lucas lurched still trying not scream.

"Go to hell!" He choked out.

"Oh my, I would have that your beloved Captain taught you to respect your elders Mr. Wolenczak." Ken smirked. "Well, the meatier part is always a bit easier, I wonder how you'll feel after the next part." He held down the youth's right leg again and started to make short slices on his shin.

The pain was worse there. The thin skin opened and bleed much faster than his thigh. Lucas clenched his jaw until his teeth hurt. When Ken finished the dozen cuts he roughly ran his hand up the leg. Lucas couldn't hold anymore as the pain surged through him. His jaw released and he screamed wordlessly before blacking out.

"There, thats all I needed kid. I'll go call your girlfriend now, I'm sure she's very worried about you."

* * *

Wendy sat back and wiped her hands on a towel. "That's all I can do right now. We'll have to wait until he wakes up." The gash on Dagwood's head was stitched and bandaged. They couldn't move the large man to the couch so he was still on the floor with a blanket pulled up to his chest.

Ben nodded still watching for any dangers that might come at the small group. "Is it ok if I go to the bedroom? I just need some time alone." Aellai asked standing.

"Of course sweetheart, take all the time you need." Wendy looked at her worriedly. She knew the girl wasn't fully dealing with anything that happened but perhaps if she got some rest she could process everything.

"Thanks, let me know if there is any news from my dad." She slowly walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind her. She knew her mind wouldn't stop screaming in here but at least no one was staring at her like she was going to combust. Every surface of the room seemed to be showing the absence of Lucas. The broken computer, his rumpled baseball shirt on the bed, a half eaten candy bar on the table. She felt so useless, _what can I do? I don't even know where he is. _She laid on the bed and clutched the shirt to her chest.

Aellai woke suddenly. She was sure she heard Lucas' voice. She looked out the window and listened at the door. Nothing, she couldn't hear anyone talking. She sighed and sat on the bed again. An image of Lucas' face flashed through her mind and she shook her head trying to clear it. "That wasn't my thought." She whispered. Another flash of him screaming, "no please no!" She whispered. A longer lasting image came next. Lucas tied to a bed, covered in blood not moving. She tried to not scream. One last image, a doorway she had passed on the way to Dr. Wendy's office.

_I only have a few minutes before Wendy knows_, she thought. She looked around the room for anything she could use. Only her knife was with her. She slid it into her boot and checked the second story window. It only opened half a foot but she was so small she could sneak out. The landing would be rough though. Before attempting, she quietly clicked the lock on the door.

Aellai went back to the window and wiggled out feet first and bracing herself dropped. She landed and her left ankle folded underneath her. Swearing softly she tested it. It hurt but she could walk on it. Checking the windows above her she hobbled off in the direction of Dr. Wendy's office. It took her a few minutes to reach the building but was glad no one seemed to notice her frantic pace.

Walking slowly to the door she saw in her vision, she took a deep breath and knocked. The door opened immediately and she walked into the dark room. A light came on and she saw she was in an office, Ken shut and locked the door smiled at her. "You're alone?" He asked, she nodded. "Well done, I was worried you wouldn't get away. Wendy must not have had her mind on you. Perfect."

"Where is Lucas?" She did not want to think about how alone she was with this man.

"He's in there, he's resting right now. Poor boy doesn't seem to have much endurance."

Aellai fought to stay calm and walked to the door Ken indicated. "I want to see him."

"Go ahead, it isn't locked." Ken followed her closely through the door.

She tried to hide the shock and sick feeling from her stomach when she saw Lucas on the bed. "What did you do?" She whispered.

"Not much, if he had been more cooperative it wouldn't have happened all. He's very stubborn."

Aellai brushed the blonde hair from Lucas' face she wanted to wake up and tell her he was ok, but she didn't want him to feel the pain caused from his legs.

"He's alive, and he's not the one I want." Ken said from behind her.

"I know," Aellai straightened. "What do you want? My powers are gone, I can't help you fight anyone or lead anything or whatever you want."

Ken raised an eyebrow. "No. Your powers are not gone, you just can't use them. And no I don't want you to fight for me. As you can see, I have my own way of getting things done."

"Yeah, kidnapping a kid and torturing him." She snorted darkly. "What do you want?"

"That's simple, I want you to join me. When I unlock your true powers, you will be a goddess. When you join me, we will rule this world. All the _normals _will bow to us." Aellai saw for the first time that Ken had lost his mind, but she knew better than to point that out.

"If I say no? Will you kill him?"

"No, I doubt that threat will make you do what I want. From what I've seen you just fight harder when Lucas' life in danger." He regarded her for a moment. "If you don't join me, I will take your powers from you. Regrettably, you will most likely die."

* * *

Wendy slowly turned from Dagwood. She could feel something that were not her own emotions. Fear, anger, pain. Who was it? She went to the bedroom door and turned the knob, finding it locked she knocked. There was no answer. "Aellai? Please open the door, I need to talk to you." Only silence from the room. "Ben, I think we have another problem."

Krieg stood from the door he had been sitting in front of. Without asking, he knew what she meant. He walked to the door and twisted the knob, then he hammered on the door. Still no response. "Stand back." He advised, talking a running start he slammed his shoulder in the door. It gave way and he tried to ignore the searing pain in his shoulder. The room was empty. "We need to call Bridger."

Wendy nodded, "I'll try to try to find her mind. She's opened it to me so many times I shouldn't have a problem." She sat on the couch and started concentrating.

With a heavy heart Ben went back to the vid-link and called the SeaQuest.

* * *

"If I die will you let Lucas go?" Aellai asked looking at the sleeping boy.

"I won't purposely hurt him, but with the amount of power I believe I can get from you, there may be some casualties."

"Then I won't do it here. Give me few minutes with him to say goodbye and I will go with you." Ken studied her for a moment and nodded leaving the room. Aellai pulled a chair from the corner to Lucas' bed. "I'm sorry, this is all I have to offer. I just... hope if I don't make it that whatever he wants to do can be stopped." She wiped a tear away. "If you can hear me, tell Dad I love him, and don't forget I love you too. I think I did from the first time I saw you playing with Darwin."

She stood walked to the door. She thought about ways she could get out of this but didn't know if killing another person was something she could handle. She felt the knife pressing against her sore ankle and knew it was now or never. She pulled it out and hid it in the back of her pants trying not to think of what she had to do last time she did the same thing. Pulling open the door she left the room and left Lucas.

* * *

Captain Bridger tried to digest the news he had just received. Now Aellai was gone. No doubt she went to find Lucas. Perhaps she even got some kind of message about him. The SeaQuest was flying through the ocean at her top speed to get to the coast but they were still an hour away. He already called New Cape Quest and informed the docking facility he had a classified reason for docking so far outside of schedule. He hadn't even taken the time to call Admiral Noyce. They had no idea who leaked the information about Aellai and Lucas being at the center and wasn't ready to trust anyone.

As much as Bridger wanted to blame people, he couldn't put the burden of this on Ben's shoulders. The Lt. had done everything by the book and just seeing his pained expression on the vid-screen was enough proof that he blamed himself. After explaining the situation to his senior crew all of them volunteered to come up world and help with the search and rescue. The Captain laid his head on his desk trying not to subcomb to the terror he was feeling.

* * *

"They were in the building that holds my office... oh I see. The "Quiet Room" of course." Wendy said, Ben looked at her in confusion. "We built a room for some of the students to rest in without any outside energies. Sometimes they it can be too much for the younger ones. We have to check there first." Ben jumped up ready for action. "Give me two minutes, I'll call someone to stay with Dag and I'll show you where it is."

Moments later, they were running across the campus towards the building. "There!" Ben shouted pointing. They saw Ken pulling Aellai with him as they exited the building. He was not surprised to see the tall man. "Stop Ken!" Ben pulled his sidearm dropped into a one kneed shooting position. The remaining students saw the situation and ran into the buildings, many pulling out phones as they did so.

Ken Reeve grabbed a handful of Aellai's hair and pulled her in front of himself. "You idiots, you think you can hurt me? You think you can stop me? You'll have to shoot a little girl and even then I will destroy you. Let me be, go check on the bleeding boy in the quiet room. Your efforts are better served there, he can be saved. She can not."

Wendy's heart stuttered as she listened to Ken's speech. Aellai struggled in his grasp and in the end he jerked her head back so far she yelled in pain. "Let her go you sick son of a bitch!" Screamed Ben. "Everyone knows who you are, everyone will be hunting you down like a dog."

Ken laughed, "oh I know everyone will know who I am soon, but they will be worshiping me!"

Wendy watched the madman in shock. She noticed a mental connection trying to be established and saw Aellai trying to catch her eye. _"Distract him, let him think he can leave. I have an idea and you need to help Lucas._" She nodded and slowly walked to Ken. "Stop, please, you're hurting her. We'll let you go. Just stop hurting her."

Ben looked at the back of Wendy's head in amazement. What was she doing? The Doctor angled herself in front of Krieg knowing she was blocking his shot. _Whatever you have planned it better be good kid _she thought.

Ken was laughing, he won, they couldn't stop him even if they still tried. Aellai felt the fist in her hair relax and she reached behind her back with her left hand. Pulling the knife out and plunging it down in one swift motion. Reeve screamed and threw her from him. She hit her head and a burning pain raced through her skull. Blinking away the blood that was pouring from her eyebrow she tried to stand. A wave of energy sweeped her and the two adults down.

Aellai watched as Krieg's body went flying several feet and he landed twisted. She heard a sharp crack and his shout of pain. Wendy was trying to crawl towards her under the psychic power, earning herself scraps and was bleeding freely. They were both too far away to do more than watch when Ken picked Aellai up by the hair again.

"You little bitch! You think something like this will stop me?!" He screamed into her face. His free hand passed his bleeding leg and Aellai watched the wound close leaving only the blood stained and ripped fabric. "I told you they couldn't win. And now they get to watch you die before they follow you." He pressed both hands to the sides of her head and Aellai shrieked in agony.

It felt like everything inside of her was tearing apart, the scene around her swam and Aellai struggled to hold on. _Use the pain, you've done it before, USE IT!_ Part of her brain screamed as the other part screamed for release, for an end to the pain. Aellai closed her eyes but could still see everything. She was connected to everything around her. She watched as Ben attempted to reach for his gun again with his right arm cradled against his chest. Wendy was still trying to crawl to her. _Lucas? Where was Lucas? There, still in the room_. He was awake and was fighting the bindings despite the blood loss evident all around him. She could see her father running through the docking facilities and was surprised to see almost the whole crew following him. He jumped into a car and took off but she knew he was still to far away._ At least he won't have to see me die_ she thought thankfully.

Aellai reserved one last look at Lucas and everything grew dim. She felt a force blast around her and heard a scream _was that me? _Everything faded away.

* * *

Captain Bridger screeched to a stop in the parking lot of the center. He desperately tried to calm himself when he saw police cars and ambulances everywhere. He ran to the largest group and started fighting past the people. A police officer attempted to stop him and he flashed his badge. "Bridger, UEO... my daughter." He saw the man's eyes flash in alarm and pity but rushed past him. He didn't want to hear anything from a stranger. He stopped a dozen yards away from a flashing ambulance. He could see three people, two were on gurneys surrounded by paramedics and the other was being zipped into a body bag. Seeing the draped form, his mind went to the first time he had seen Aellai, or not seen her. She was hiding invisible under and blanket in the decompression chamber. "No, please no."

"Captain!" Came a voice, Ben Krieg had jumped out of an ambulance and was running to him.

Bridger turned blindly. Ben walked slowly to him holding his arm carefully ignoring the blood dripping from a cut on his cheek. It was obvious the man had not gotten medical attention and perhaps refused it. "Aellai?" Bridger asked not wanting to hear the possible answer.

"She's alive Captain. We don't know how, but she's alive."

Bridger's knees began to buckle and Ben grabbed hold of him. "I want to see her." Ben nodded and led him to one of the gurneys.

A paramedic moved aside as the men walked up. Dr. Wendy looked up from her work and gave a strained smile. Bridger looked down at the small form under the blanket. On the gurney next to her was Lucas, his arm that stretched the gap firmly holding her hand. Bridger tried to take in every inch of Aellai's face before turning to anyone else.

Finally he looked at Lucas, he was laying half inclined on the gurney with no blanket with a pale and drawn face. Bridger gasped when he saw why. Another paramedic was tending to the horrific amount of damage to the boy's legs. Lucas would breath in a hiss every so often but was letting the man do his work. "You'll need stitches at the hospital buddy."He was explaining, but no one was listening.

Bridger looked at the body bag next. Whomever had done all this must be in there. Yet another person to come up against his family and crew and pay the price. He didn't bother to look at the bag again.

"We're ready to move her, Nathan." Wendy announced speaking to Bridger for the first time.

He nodded mutely and stepped back to let the paramedics push her to the ambulance. His head snapped back around when he heard a sob from Lucas. The young genius had been forced to let go of Aellai's hand and it seemed to be the last straw for him. "Ben, please stay with Lucas." He looked at the boy. "Thank you, she's alive because of you." Lucas started to shake his head. "No, she fought for you. She always has."

"She fought for you too sir." He whispered. Bridger gave Lucas' hand a squeeze climbed into the ambulance after his daughter.

* * *

"Do we know what happened yet?" Captain Bridger asked Dr. Wendy.

"Some, Lucas and Dagwood will be able to add a lot to our information. We won't know exactly what happened between Reeve and Aellai until she wakes up." Wendy answered wincing at the sting when the young intern dabbed her scratches with antiseptic.

"When will that be?" He asked softly.

"I don't know. It's possible she was very damaged when he pulled her powers out. We can only wait at see. At least physically she's ok. A few bruises but everything will heal." Bridger nodded and looked back through the window at his sleeping daughter. There were several doctors around her doing tests and taking notes.

He heard a disturbance behind him and left the window to check it. Lucas was fighting the doctors and instead of stopping him, Krieg seemed to be adding to the chaos. "Let me go! I want to see her!" The boy was yelling. Bridger hurried to his side.

"It's ok Lucas, the doctors are with her now, she's safe. You need treatment, and so do you Lt." He gave them a commanding but understanding look. "You can't help her if you hurt yourself more." Lucas settled down on the bed at Bridger's words. He still had a furious expression on his face but at least stopped fighting. "I'll stay with Lucas, Ben get a cast on that arm. Everyone can see it's broken, you aren't fooling everyone." Krieg's face was very white under the sheen of blood and sat for the scared looking doctor to start his exam.

"We just have to wait everyone." The emergency room was quickly filling up with the SeaQuest's crew. They all wanted to ask questions but could see now was not the time. "I'll expect a full report from both of you as soon as you were able." Bridger said further trying to distract the two worried people on either side of him.

* * *

The next day very little had changed in Aellai's condition. Lucas was in a wheel chair beside her bed and refused to move. The Captain had given up trying to get the boy to sleep and just requested they place a cot in the room for her. "Why won't she wake up sir?" Lucas asked with agony in his blue eyes.

"They don't know kiddo. Her mind may be just repairing itself or... or it's worse." The doctors had already told him the chances of her never waking were disturbingly high but he couldn't voice that. Least of all to Lucas. _I can't lose another child, please be alright Aellai. You are my second chance, and I hope that I am yours. _"Just keep talking to her Lucas, it helps."

Bridger had to break away from the intense stare Lucas fixated on him. He had the unnerving feeling the boy knew what the doctors had told him. He glanced around the room, it was full of gifts from the crew. Flowers, cards, large and small stuffed animals. Every surface held something for the girl.

Bridger's stomach clenched when his mind drifted to what he was told by Lucas and Dagwood. The boy had gone through hell to keep Aellai safe. That is something Bridger would never forget. Dagwood never had a chance either, there had been no warning, no knock on the door. Just a blast of energy and the large man didn't remember anything other than waking up with someone he didn't know caring for him. If the teacher hadn't been able to reach the G.E.L.F. psychically to calm him, there would have been another person in the hospital.

Wendy quietly opened the door walked to Bridger. "There's been no change. But her brain isn't swelling and there hasn't been any bleeding. That's good news Nathan. That means she'll probably be ok."

Lucas' mind struggled to accept the information. He watched Aellai's form for a moment and took her hand. "Come on girl, wake up. We need you. The ship will fall apart without you. I'll fall apart without you."

Bridger blinked away tears and went to stand on the other side of the bed. He too took the girl's hand. "He's right honey, there's a lot of work to be done, you can't stay here." At the same time they felt heat surge from their hand into Aellai. Her eyelids moved a fraction and she moaned.

Wendy raced to her side and started checking her vitals. "I think she's coming to, just be patient. Don't over do it." The girl's eyelids moved again and opened.

She peered blearily at the people gathered around her. "If you are all dead too, I'll really freaking pissed off." She rasped.

Bridger and Lucas dissolved into relieved laughter and tears at the same time and Wendy just shook her head.

* * *

Hours later Aellai was much more alert and talking with everyone. "Do you remember what happened? Her father asked.

"Um, I remember stabbing him and getting thrown to the ground. And then, I couldn't get up. I was trying to but I could barely move. He... he grabbed me and held on to my head. It hurt.. a lot." She stopped and took a breathe. "I felt like I was breaking into pieces. Like he was tearing me apart. I could see everything around me. I saw Lucas tied to the bed, I saw you running to a car and then... nothing." Bridger looked at Lucas and Wendy after hearing the new information but Aellai continued. "Oh, I heard a scream. I guess that was me. Is that why I feel like I've been hit by a truck?"

"Actually no, it wasn't. It was Ken." Wendy informed her.

"Oh, did Ben shoot him? I know he had a gun." Her question was so straight forward everyone flinched.

"No honey. It's not like that. He pulled your power out and into himself. And he just started screaming, he dropped to the ground and he was bleeding from his eyes and ears." Aellai looked at her baffled. "We think you had to much power inside of you. You basically overloaded his brain."

"But how? I thought he was so strong?" She asked still confused.

"You were and are stronger." Lucas answered.

"So, will I get my powers back ever?" She was blushing from Lucas' comment and chose to ignore it.

"I don't know, we'll have to wait and see, but probably." Wendy informed her.

* * *

A week had passed since the incident at the center. Aellai was still on bed rest but Lucas had finally been allowed to go back to a light workload. She was extremely restless, at least at the hospital and in the medbay there had always been people around to keep her mind busy. Now that she was back to their room, her mind wouldn't behave. It flicked from image to image beyond her control. Lucas laying in the bed covered in blood, Krieg's twisted body, Wendy crawling trying to reach her, Bridger's panicked face as he ran to the car, and worst of all, Ken's laughing face.

Aellai closed her eyes and attempted to think of anything else but the images were too powerful. she could feel herself starting to panic. So much had happened and it was all so horrible. She knew there was one way to calm herself but had waited until she had no choice. In the pits many of the kids would do one thing to ease the terror and stress. To erase the mental pain.

Aellai stood and walked to other side of the room. Opening the small medkit on the wall she pulled out a thick roll of gauze and set it on the desk. Next she pulled out her knife, it had been returned to her before she left the hospital and no one thought twice about giving it to her. She carefully washed the knife looking at it blankly. She checked out the door's window before locking it. No one would understand why she was doing this. She just had to.

Slowly, she raised her sleeve and holding the large knife by the blade made several small cuts in her upper arm. With each slice she felt the change. One: fear ebbing away, Two: Ken's face disappeared, Three: Lucas's scream faded, Four: the injuries of her friends vanished, Five: her father wasn't scared anymore, Six: her powers would probably return within time.

She carefully wrapped her up her arm a little too tightly for comfort. If she kept it hurting she wouldn't have to do it as much. She washed her knife and put it away. Arranging her clothes and her face she picked up her pal to call her father. "Hey, any chance you'll let me out for dinner with you? I'm getting bored."

"Of course kiddo, I'll meet you there. Just take it slow." Was the answer.

Aellai opened the door and walked out of the room calm for the first time in days.

* * *

The dinner with her father was uneventful, she knew when to laugh and knew when to honest. It was a very simple game. The only difficulty came when Lucas showed up and joined them. Seeing him made the images come back and Aellai had to squeeze her bandaged arm to keep from screaming. If either noticed they did not comment.

Lucas and Aellai were slowly walking back to their room when Lucas suggesting swimming with Darwin. "I'll watch you swim, I'm pretty tired." Lucas was surprised the girl passed an opportunity to play with the dolphin but left it alone.

He quickly changed into his wetsuit and Aellai leaned against the tank to watch. "Aellai play!" Darwin ordered.

She smiled, "no, not today fish-face. Maybe in a few days."

"Aellai hurt?" He asked.

"Um, kind of. More tired though."

"No, Aellai hurt again!" Darwin proclaimed.

Aellai froze, had he been in the tubes when she cut herself? "Did you get hurt? How did that happen?" Asked Lucas walking up behind her.

She thought fast. "I pulled a muscle or something. I may have just slept wrong. Um, it's just my arm."

Lucas regarded her oddly. She was speaking a very fast rate and had changed her story in nearly the same sentence. "Ok... Did you go to Dr. Westphalen?"

"Nah, I'll be fine. Really, don't worry." She avoided his eye.

Lucas climbed into the water and started swimming with Darwin. Aellai watched them but her mind wasn't in the moon pool. It was still at the center and no amount of squeezing her arm was calming her down. "I'm sorry guys, I think I need to head to bed." She faked a large yawn. "I guess I'm not really ready to be out this long. I'll see you there." She turned and left before Lucas could say anything.

"What was that about?" He mused out loud.

"Aellai arm is hurt." Darwin tried to explain.

"I know buddy, but why is acting so odd?" Darwin blew water out his blowhole in annoyance and swam for the tubes. "I guess no one wants to be around me right now." The teen muttered.

It was only a few minutes later when Lucas got to their quarters and was surprised to see Aellai already asleep. "You _must_ really tired." He picked up a book and after putting his headphones sat down to read. He never saw or heard her soft sobs.

* * *

The next morning Lucas was shocked to see Aellai was still sleeping. She normally always got up before him and often teased him about it. He rolled over and laid his arm on her's. She jumped away with a horse yelp. "I'm sorry, is your arm hurting that much?"

"Yeah, and you just surprised me. I... think it made the muscle contract." She rubbed her face to avoid looking at him.

"I really want you to see the Doctor, there may be something else wrong." He suggested.

"Would you for a pulled muscle?" She asked sardonically.

"Um, no, I guess not. But promise you will if it keeps hurting that badly." She nodded and stood still not looking at him. "When are they letting you go back to work?" He tried changing the subject to ease the awkwardness he was suddenly feeling.

"I'm supposed to see the Doctor today and find out. I hope she lets me, I... can't spend so much time alone."

"You know you can talk to me, right?" Lucas asked softly. She nodded now staring at the floor. "Ready for breakfast?"

"No, you go. I... want to try to loosen up this muscle before I see Kristen." She forced a smile on her face. "I'll eat a little later."

Lucas hesitated but didn't know what else to do or say, something was upsetting her and he didn't know how to help. "Ok, I guess I'll see you later." He kissed her on the forehead but she didn't respond and he left the room. As he walked he considered his options. _Do I talk to Bridger about her? Or the Doctor? She'll be pissed about either one. I doubt Ben could help with this one. _As he racked his brain, his PAL beeped and soon he was immersed in yet another computer issue.

Lucas was delighted when, hours later, Aellai showed up where he was working. "I can finally do stuff again! I'm on a light load but I don't have to stay in the room!" She seemed much better than she had been and was laughing at his jokes as they worked._ I guess she's going to be fine. She must be stronger than I thought if something like that didn't slow her down for long._ He thought happily to himself.

* * *

Another week went by and everything seemed almost normal. Lucas was confused that Aellai still hadn't swam with him and Darwin. She always seemed busy when he asked, often citing catching up on her homework. He sat in their room working on his computer when he got a beep signaling a call. He glanced at the number and smiled. It was Wolfman. They hadn't talked a long time.

"Hey, what's up Frankie?!" The small red haired computer wiz shouted.

"Not much, pretty calm actually. After all the craziness that happened I'm pretty ok with that though." He replied.

"Yeah, that was... intense. How are you holding up? Covered in manly scars?"

Lucas snorted "nope, most of them are all healed already. Still a baby face." He rubbed his chin as if pretending it had a beard.

Wolfman laughed. "How's Aellai?"

Lucas hesitated. "I'm not sure. She's been acting strangely since it happened. I know it was a lot to go through... but she's just different. Even after the other trouble we've gone through on this ship. This was different some how."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know how to explain it. She laughs and smiles and eats and sleeps, but it seems off for some reason. Maybe she just needs more time." He sighed and blushed, "we haven't... even done... anything since before it happened."

Lucas expected to hear Wolfman's laugh but instead saw a thoughtful and serious expression on the young man's face. "Has she had any other injuries?" He asked quietly.

"She pulled a muscle in her arm last week."

"Be honest, have you seen her without clothes since she got out of the medbay?" Wolfman asked worriedly.

Lucas wanted to snap back at his friend for the question but stopped when he saw his face. "No," he said thinking. "She won't swim either."

"Lucas," Wolfman started. "How do I say this? You need to check her. Look for... injuries. For something you can't explain."

Lucas looked puzzled and then shocked as what his friend was suggesting came to him. "You think she's hurting herself?" He asked horrified.

"I've seen it before, here at Node. Kids can't handle the stress and they start carving themselves up to deal with it." He looked sad as he spoke.

Lucas thought for a moment. "I gotta go, I'll... let you know if I find anything. Thanks." He signed off before Wolfman could respond. Could she really be doing something like that? Lucas had known people in college who did it and it always scared him. It just seemed so far from normal and healthy. He knew he didn't deal with his feelings most of the time but he'd never do that. He resolved himself to talk to Aellai and waited for her to come back to the room.

* * *

Lucas was sitting on the bed staring at the floor when Aellai came in. She was some what surprised to see the young genius was not using a computer, playing with parts, or even reading a book. To see the blonde teen without anything in his hands or in front of him was really quite odd. "Hey what's up?" She asked.

"We need to talk," he said softly.

She shut the door behind her and walked further in the room. "Ok, did I do something?"

"Maybe," came the answer surprising her again. "I need you do something for me." She nodded listening. "Take off your shirt."

She blinked at the odd request. "Well, that's not very romantic. And I'm not much in the mood anyhow." She set her bag down and put her hands on her hips.

Lucas didn't move. He was still studying her. "This isn't about sex, Aellai. Take off your shirt please."

"No, you're being strange. Tell me what is going on and maybe I'll do it." Lucas stood suddenly and advanced on her. Aellai tried to back up but the room was just too small. He reached up and placed both hands on her upper arms. She gasped in pain. "Stop it, what is wrong with you?"

"Take off your shirt or I will take you to Bridger and tell him what I think you are doing." Aellai's heart beat faster._ He knows! How can he know? I've been so careful!_

She knew she had no choice. If only Lucas knew, maybe she could explain it wasn't a big deal. It was just something she had to do. Slowly she pulled off her t-shirt. His eyes grew large and tears filled them when he saw the bandages on both arms.

"Unwrap them." He ordered.

"You don't understand. Please let me explain it. I need to explain it." Her breath was getting caught in her throat as she talked.

"Unwrap them." Lucas repeated. "I need to see it."

Shaking she started to unwrap the bandages. She tried to ignore is pained groan when he saw the dozens of cuts on her arms. Some were very fresh and still oozing blood, some were older but and looked like they were healing but almost all of them had angry red streaks of infection surrounding them. "Why?" He asked fighting the revulsion. "Why would you do this to yourself?"

She sat and fixed her eyes on the wall. "Because I have to. It's the only way I can stay sane." She swallowed a sob. "When I do it, it helps. Everything that has happened fades away and I can deal with it."

Lucas kneeled in front of her. "No, you aren't dealing with it. You are punishing yourself for feeling emotions. That won't help anything. You need to feel these things to get rid of them. I know how you feel. I also know I don't always deal with things in the best fashion but... I try."

"What are you talking about? How do you know how I feel? It's my fault you were hurt, it's my fault everyone there was hurt. It's my fault two men and a child are dead. How can I deal with that?" She was almost screaming. Aellai grabbed her shirt and struggled to get it on again. "I'm going to sleep with in Lonnie's room. I ... can't stay here now."

"No! You are going to listen to me." Lucas stood quickly and taking the shirt away from her, turned her away from the door being careful of her arms. "I want you do something and then I want to tell you something. After that, if you want to leave, I won't stop you."

Lucas made Aellai face the small mirror beside the closet. "Look at yourself, look at your arms. If you saw this on anyone else what would you think?" Aellai refused to look into the mirror and Lucas grasped her chin firmly turning her head. "Look."

Aellai couldn't fight it anymore and did what he asked. She saw the blood and infected cuts, she saw the look of panic in her own eyes. She flicked over to Lucas and watched as tears rolled down his face. "I'm sorry, I don't know how to deal with any of this without cutting myself. It's all I know. Please... help me." Her own tears matched his as they stared at each other in the mirror.

* * *

They were sitting on the bed together. Lucas had helped her into a soft loose fitting shirt and was gently holding her. "Remember how you finally came out of the decompression chamber? What you told us to make us understand?" He asked, she nodded in return. "You said you weren't telling us for pity, that we had to know to help you." She nodded again and Lucas took a deep breath. "Well, I'm going to tell you about my past to try to help you now."

"You know I don't talk about my family, and I'm sure you've asked yourself why a sixteen year old kid would be on a sub not matter what he can do. The truth is, I am a ward of the UEO. My father is in prison and my mother is dead." Aellai started to pull away to speak. "No, let me get through this. If I have to stop, I may not be able to finish." She bit her lips and settled back against him.

"Ever since I can remember, my dad has been an asshole. He beat my mom nearly everyday. When they found out I was genius, he was mad. He thought I was a freak and told me so. After a while, he figured out he could use my skills. He made me hack into his business partners files to make sure they weren't planning to screw him over. And then had me screw them over.

"One day when I was about eight, he started on my mom again. I snapped and stood up to him. He beat me for the first time. He was good, he knew not to break any bones and not to hit where the bruises would show too much. My mom tried to stop him but he just kept going. I was unconscious for a whole day. I never understood then why my mom didn't leave him. I know now she was trying to but he was too rich, too powerful.

"When I was about eleven, maybe before that, he beat my mom to death. He... he made me help bury her in the backyard. When I stopped he hit me with the shovel, I wanted to crawl in the hole with her and stay there. He wouldn't let me though, he need his little hacker to keep giving him the edge in his business dealings.

"He pulled me out of school and told the state he was homeschooling me. I wasn't learning anything else there anyhow. He kept me locked in the basement when he didn't need my skills. Sometimes it lasted days at a time. I tried to break out once, he caught me and threw me down the stairs. Both of my legs snapped when I landed. I don't really know how much time passed but someone was carrying me upstairs. He hired a doctor who had lost his license due to malpractice suits. My dad paid him plenty of money to patch me up and they became friends. Soon, his buddy wanted more.

"He wanted me to hack into the files labeling him as criminal. I did it but I knew I was being tracked. It was only a few days later when the UEO raided the house. They found me in the basement with my broken legs and took my father away. I told them about my mother and at first they didn't believe anything I said. They thought I was trying to protect my dirt bag father by saying I hacked the records. I showed them how I did it and they were a little shocked to say the least.

"They took me to a hospital and after I recovered they offered me a job and a chance to go to college. I took it and the whole of the UEO became my guardian. Bridger has the final say on the most part but not legally." Lucas blew a lung full of air out. "You need to understand that I do understand when you talk about fear and pain. I know what it's like to want to shut down and hide from it all."

Aellai looked at him in shock. "I'm so sorry. I'm so selfish. Can you forgive me?"

Lucas shook his head and gave a gruff laugh. "No, you still don't get it. You aren't selfish, you are so unbelievably selfless you took your frustrations out on your own body instead of burdening anyone else with it. You need to be a little more selfish and think of yourself before others sometimes."

Aellai clearly was struggling with the concept. "We have to tell my dad don't we?"

"Yeah, and the Doc really needs to take a look at those. They won't judge you, they will help you." He stood and held out his hand. "Come on, I won't leave you for one moment. If you want, I'll explain it to them."

Aellai stood with him and took his hand.

* * *

**Whew done... I think. This story just keeps growing longer on me. Those last chapters were hard to write to be honest. I understand it was probably hard for some people to ready too. Sorry for going a little ELF on it. Please review! Thanks for reading.**


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